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Liu Jing relied heavily on Xu Shu. He led his army to the west to Yizhou and Hanzhong, and Jingzhou was completely handed over to Xu Shu and Jia Xu. The two of them managed Jingzhou in an orderly manner. Jia Xu was mainly responsible for military farming, and government affairs and people's livelihood were controlled by Xu Shu.

Although Xu Shu was not as good as Jia Xu and Sima Yi in military strategy, he did a very good job in government affairs and made Jingzhou full of vitality. In just two years, he restored the people's livelihood economy that was destroyed by Cao's army's southward journey, which was an amazing achievement.

Liu Jing also replied with a smile: "It should be thankful for the Chief Secretary."

At this time, Sun Gan stepped forward and knelt down to pay a greeting, "Sun Gan pays homage to the governor of the state."

Liu Jing smiled slightly, "Gongyou, we are old friends, there is no need to give this big gift, please sit down."

He nodded to Xu Shu again, and Xu Shu also sat down. Sun Gan sat down, and then bowed and smiled: "First congratulations to the Jingzhou army for successfully capturing Yizhou and Hanzhong, and also congratulations to the governor of the states for becoming the lord of the two states."

"Thank you Gongyou. I don't know what the situation of Uncle Liu is now. Jiaozhou will be smooth."

Seeing that Sun Gan seemed to be preparing for the wording, Liu Jing smiled and said, "You don't need to polish it. Just say it clearly, I really want to know how Uncle Liu conquered Yulin and Cangwu."

Sun Gan no longer concealed it and said frankly: "This time we went south to Jiaozhou, it was as if God was willing. Just as we were preparing to raise an army, Lai Gong from Yulin County and Wu Ju from Cangwu County broke out in fierce battle.

The two had a long grudge, but this time they were fighting for Lipu County, a major grain-producing county on the border of the two counties. As a result, Lai Gong was defeated and expelled from Yulin County. He was hated and found the uncle Liu, and gave us Yulin's seal and ribbon, willing to give up Yulin, on the condition that we wanted us to rescue his family.

We got the excuse of sending troops. Zhuge's military advisor led 10,000 troops and the two generals of Guan and Zhang to the south. Zhuge's military advisor used suspicious military tactics to disguise two thousand people as the main force to confront Wu Ju. Yun Changzhe led 8,000 people to detour to Cangwu County and drove Wu Ju's old nest. Wu Ju retreated south in a panic, and was ambushed by Yun Chang's return troops. He was defeated in one battle. Wu Ju was captured and surrendered. In this way, we captured Yu Lin and Cangwu County as quickly as possible."

"What about Shixie from Jiaozhi County?"

Liu Jing continued to ask, "What's his reaction?"

"When we captured Cangwu County, Shi Xie led 10,000 troops to stare at him. He also took advantage of the opportunity, but he was still one step late. Guangxin County, the capital of Cangwu County, was occupied by us. Zhuge's military advisor ordered General Zhang to rob Shi Xie of the food and grass for logistics. At the same time, Zhuge's military advisor was firmly in the walls and cleared the fields and guarded the city without fighting. Shi Xie could not support him, so he had to withdraw his troops and return to Jiaozhi."

Liu Jing nodded, "Since you have occupied the two counties of Yulin and Cangwu, you should have enough food and grass. Why do you still have to borrow food from me?"

Sun Gan sighed and said, "The main reason is that Lai Gong and Wu Ju have fought for years, which seriously affected the farming of farmers. This year's spring plowing was delayed. We had to replant beans. There will definitely be famine this year, so Uncle Liu begged the provincial governor to borrow 100,000 stones of grain to survive this year's famine."

"There is no problem with borrowing grain, but I hope I can clarify why you pay me back this first." Liu Jing smiled faintly.

Sun Gan's face was flushed. He didn't expect Liu Jing to ask this question, which made it difficult for him to answer. Xu Shu next to him was also a little embarrassed. It is common for the princes to borrow grain, but he would never ask in person the matter of returning grain. Even ordinary people would not ask people so directly when they would hurt their feelings when they would still be like this.

However, Xu Shu also knew that Liu Jing's question must have a deep meaning, and he remained silent on the sidelines and did not come forward to smooth things over.

After a while, Sun Gan sighed and said, "Frankly speaking, we really don't know when we can return the grain to Jingzhou, because we don't understand the grain production situation, but we can guarantee that we will return the grain to Jingzhou."

Liu Jing shook his head, "Repayment in twenty years is also keeping his promise. This is not enough. It's not that I'm making things difficult for you, but I think the two sides should discuss and sign an agreement to clarify some things, such as how to repay it in one year. If it doesn't work for a year, what will happen after the New Year? If it really can't be paid back, what will be used to compensate after all, it's 100,000 shi of grain, not a small amount, Gongyou thinks?"

Sun Gan was stunned for a moment, and he suddenly realized that it was not that Liu Jing wanted to force them to repay the food, but that Liu Jing didn't want to lend them food for nothing. He needed conditions, but he refused to say it explicitly and had to take the initiative to propose it.

Sun Gan smiled bitterly in his heart and bowed to Liu Jing and said, "I thought it was simple. I really need to sign an agreement. I don't know what kind of guarantee should we provide while lending us food?"

Liu Jing laughed. Sun Gan was very smart and understood what he meant. He thought about it and smiled and said, "Actually, I don't need any material guarantee. I can provide 100,000 stones of grain, but I need Uncle Liu to give me a written promise. Before the 100,000 stones of grain is repaid, I will not allow his army to step into Jingzhou."

Sun Quan nodded silently. He understood what Liu Jing meant. Jingnan would definitely not station many Jingzhou troops, but Liu Jing was worried that the emperor's army would take the opportunity to fight back to Jingnan, so he wanted to use this 100,000 stone of grain as a constraint to ask the emperor to make a promise, but this was just a unilateral commitment.

Of course there are also benefits, that is, Liu Jing no longer collects debts, and can repay grain in five years or ten years. There are both advantages and disadvantages in it, but it is not his Sun Gan who can make the decision.

Thinking of this, Sun Gan said, "Since that's the case, I must go back and ask the emperor's uncle, or the governor of the state sends someone to go back with me, so that I don't have to run repeatedly."

"Can"

Liu Jing happily agreed, "As a way to express sincerity, I will send a boat to Lingqu to send 20,000 stones of grain to Cangwu County first. After Uncle Liu took out his written promise, I will send all the grain at once."

Sun Gan nodded and agreed. He asked silently: "Does Zhou Mu really believe in a contract?"

Liu Jing shook his head, "Frankly speaking, I don't actually believe it, but I always have to do something, and there is an explanation on both sides."

"I see"

Sun smiled dryly and asked again: "I don't know if there are any questions in the provincial governor who need me to answer."

Liu Jing thought about it and asked with a smile: "And I really want to know how you are going to deal with Jiaozhi Shixie."

Logically, this kind of military strategy problem cannot be easily leaked, especially if Liu Jing told Shi Xie, the consequences would be very serious. However, Sun Gan also knew that as Liu Jing's identity, he would not do such a two-sided thing, so he told him calmly.

"Our next step is to seize Hepu, Gaoliang and Zhuya County, and cut off the connection between Nanhai County and Jiaozhi County in the west. The emperor's intention was to first capture Nanhai County, use Fanyu as the prefecture, and then negotiate with Shi Xie. After a year or two, he would attack Shi Xie to the west and eventually unify Jiaozhou."

"Yes, this strategy is very good and has developed steadily. My only suggestion is that Shi Xie has been operating in Jiaozhi for a long time and the people have surrendered. If the emperor wants to attack him, he must be fully prepared and first gain military advantages. For example, choose the right season. For example, you can first capture the south of Jiaozhi by taking the sea and attacking him from the south and defeating Shi Xie as quickly as possible. Once the war is delayed, it will be detrimental to the emperor."

"Thank you for your good advice from the Palace Master. I will tell the Emperor that if there is nothing else, Sun Gan will say goodbye."

Liu Jing nodded, "Let's rest today. Tomorrow I will ask Liao Li to go to Jiaozhou with you. You can follow the grain boat to Cangwu, so that the journey will not be exhausted."

Sun Gan dismissed, and Liu Jing ordered someone to invite Liao Li again. At this time, Xu Shu smiled and said, "I feel that the provincial governor seems to be a little conflicted with Liu Bei. On the one hand, I hope he can unify Jiaozhou, and on the other hand, I want to limit his development. Why is this?"

Liu Jing sighed and said, "From the strategy of Jingzhou, I hope that Liu Bei and Shi Xie will be in opposition and maintain two hostile forces in Jiaozhou, so that Liu Bei will have no time to look north. However, from the long-term interests of a central empire, I also hope that Liu Bei can unify Jiaozhou as soon as possible, promote the sinicization in Jiaozhou, so that Jiaozhou can develop like Jingzhou as soon as possible, laying the foundation for the central empire to rule Jiaozhou for a long time, so I feel quite conflicted. In fact, this is also the main purpose of letting Liu Bei go to Jiaozhou."

Xu Shu nodded and sighed sincerely: "Zhou Mu is worthy of being a talented and talented person. Such vision and mind are indeed difficult for ordinary people to reach."

At this time, Liao Li's voice came from the outer room, "Qi Bingzhou Governor, the empress is here."

"Please come in"

Liao Li was also a strategist of Liu Jing and served as a military officer. He was a second-level strategist, slightly inferior to Jia Xu, Sima Yi and others, such as Dong Yun, Ma Liang, Yin Jing, Liu Min, Yi Ji, Li Fu, Li Yan, Zhou Buyi, Jiang Wan, as well as Peng Yi, Li Yi, Deng Zhi and others from Bashu. These people are all second-level strategists.

Second-level strategists cannot participate in major military and national decisions, but they will be responsible for some small-scale battles or for some specific matters, such as military farming, patrols, military supervision, mining supervision, money supervision, food supervision, etc.

Like Liao Li, he was responsible for the supervision of coin minting and shipbuilding. He inspected the coin minting and shipbuilding office. The reason why Liu Jing asked Liao Li to go to Jiaozhou was mainly because he was from Jingnan. Secondly, Liao Li was a mature person, meticulous and had strong observation skills. He was the most suitable candidate to go to Jiaozhou.

Liao Li walked in and gave a deep gift, "See the governor of the state"

"Selection from Liao Jun"

Liao Li sat down, Liu Jing asked with a smile: "How is the current situation of minting money?"

"Qi Bingzhou Mu, we have opened ten coin casting furnaces. The biggest problem is the shortage of copper materials. However, ten days ago, ten thousand kilograms of copper materials were transported from Bashu, which completely alleviated the problem of insufficient copper materials. Another tael of gold and silver ingots have begun to be cast. The warehouse has already been completed, but it has not been publicly issued yet."

Liu Jing nodded and said to Xu Shu: "The important thing below is to unify the coins of Jingzhou, Yizhou and Hanzhong. I have ordered that all the coins of Yizhou and Hanzhong government be transported back to Xiangyang, melt them and re-mint the coins. The coins circulating on the markets in the two places should be slowly reclaimed and replaced with Chu coins. This matter must be done quickly."

Xu Shu bowed and said, "I remember it."
Chapter completed!