Chapter 355

Xuzhou at this moment did not have strong military equipment.

Wealth was also mostly concentrated in the hands of the Xuzhou aristocratic families.

Rather than saying Tao Shang was the master of Xuzhou.

It would be better to say that Mi Zhu, Chen Deng, Cao Bao, and others were the ones who truly called the shots in Xuzhou.

If troops were sent to Xuzhou, there would inevitably be a battle between Cao Cao and this group of Xuzhou aristocratic families.

This battle was unavoidable.

There was no way around it; the things the Cao army did in Xuzhou last time were truly too damaging to the hearts of the people.

Whether it was the aristocratic families or the common people in Xuzhou, they did not seem so keen on surrendering to Cao Cao.

But knowing that this battle would meet resistance, would Cao Cao still send troops?

The answer is, yes!

After annexing Xuzhou, Cao Cao would leap to become a great feudal lord spanning three provinces.

At that time, with Yuan Shao as an external aid.

Cao Cao might not be unable to establish an effective defensive line against Dong Zhuo's army in the Yuzhou area!

But all of this had a necessary prerequisite, which was that he must take Xuzhou!

Time was pressing.

Cao Cao quickly agreed with his advisors on a specific plan to send troops to Xuzhou.

They intended to launch a surprise attack without a declaration of war.

Only in this way could they attack the seat of Xuzhou, Peng Cheng, at the fastest speed!

As long as Peng Cheng was taken.

And Tao Shang and the leaders of the Xuzhou aristocratic families were captured.

The remaining cities in Xuzhou would quickly lose their ability to resist.

Xuzhou

Mi Family Mansion

Mi Zhu and his younger brother Mi Fang were sitting together, checking the accounts of the Mi family caravan for the past few months.

"Second brother, why has the caravan's income increased so much in the last three months?"

The more Mi Zhu looked at the accounts, the more terrified he felt.

The Mi family's caravan income for the last three months had more than doubled compared to before!

This made Mi Zhu feel happy, but also very shocked.

Although the Mi family was extremely wealthy, and Mi Zhu himself was known as "Mi Half-City."

But money, of course, is the more the better.

After all, who would complain about having too much money?

Even as wealthy as the Mi family was, while pursuing political status, they also hoped their family wealth would become more and more abundant.

"Big brother, you don't know."

"In the last three months, the restrictions on caravans entering the Guanxi side have been reduced a lot."

"These extra wealth were all obtained from trade with the Guanxi side."

Speaking of this, Mi Fang couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth.

Although Mi Zhu was the head of the Mi family.

But because Mi Zhu shouldered the position of "Xuzhou Bieja."

Matters regarding the caravan were generally handled by his younger brother Mi Fang.

Only at the end of every three months would Mi Zhu accompany Mi Fang to check the recent caravan account situation.

Therefore.

Mi Fang deserved the credit for the Mi family caravan being able to double its income.

"So that's how it is."

"However, the Guanxi side is really very wealthy."

"The newly built official roads have made the roads between the Guanxi regions much more convenient."

"Without war, the common people can also live and work in peace."

"In contrast, it is my Guandong region that has been in chaos with war in recent years, and the people's livelihood is withered."

Mi Zhu sighed from the bottom of his heart.

If it were more than ten years ago.

The wealthiest places in the world would definitely be Jizhou and Yuzhou.

Furthermore, it would be Xuzhou.

These three major provinces were the top three in the Han Dynasty's GDP.

But now.

Yuzhou was completely ruined, and Jizhou was also affected to a certain extent by the war.

Xuzhou, due to the Yellow Turban Rebellion and the war between Cao Cao and Tao Qian, was also not as wealthy as before.

In contrast.

It was the Guanxi region that was booming.

After all.

In the several wars where Gu Yi pacified the western border of the Han territory, the number of soldiers killed was not large.

Especially the Battle of Yizhou.

With the active surrender of Wu Yi, Zhang Song, and others, only a very small number of soldiers unfortunately died in the war.

Besides this.

Farmland and crops were not destroyed too much.

Instead, Gu Yi kept ordering the governors and magistrates under his command to organize road repairs.

Between the four major regions of Liangzhou, Guanzhong, Hanzhong, and Yizhou, the roads were much more convenient.

Communication between them also increased a lot.

The economic situation was naturally getting better and better.

Looking at Guandong.

Every year, they were either fighting or on the way to fighting.

Various economies were destroyed to a great extent.

After sighing, a trace of sorrow couldn't help but appear in Mi Zhu's eyes.

He saw him sighing long to his second brother Mi Fang:

"Zifang (Mi Fang's courtesy name is Zifang), if the war starts again, I fear the land of Xuzhou will no longer be peaceful."

Hearing what his big brother Mi Zhu said, Mi Fang also fell into silence.

"The last war between Cao Cao and Tao Qian caused the Mi family's industries in the three northern commanderies of Xuzhou to shrink extremely."

"Even the collateral clansmen died more than ten."

"This was thanks to Cao Cao and Tao Qian suddenly stopping the war."

"If the two sides didn't stop the war, I fear the Mi family would have paid more losses for this!"

And after that war ended in a hurry.

Xuzhou, including the Mi family, all suffered from a disease called "Cao-phobia."

Fearing war, not wanting to fight, but not wanting to surrender.

This was the main theme of Xuzhou today.

"Sigh."

"Let's take it one step at a time."

"I don't know where the future of my Xuzhou lies."

Mi Zhu gave a bitter smile.

In the original history, it was precisely because of various external factors that Mi Zhu, Sun Qian, and others pulled Liu Bei over to take over this mess in Xuzhou.

But now, due to Gu Yi's butterfly effect, Liu Bei had not been to Xuzhou, but went to Huainan.