Three Kingdoms: I switched to Liu Bei, why are you crying, Cao Cao?

Chapter 36 Mi Zhu's Courage, Cavalry Nemesis
Pei County, blacksmith workshop.

Just as Liu Bei and Xu Shu arrived, Qin Zhen was inspecting the workshop.

With the arrival of spring, the weather is getting warmer and the workshop is becoming extremely hot.

Flames were gushing from the furnaces, and shirtless men were wielding sledgehammers, hitting the furnaces continuously, creating waves of sounds that rose and fell.

Craftsmen came and went in an orderly manner, creating a gun head with a peculiar shape.

For an army, soldiers and horses are just the foundation. In order to form an army, it needs equipment such as machinery and armor.

Don’t be fooled by the fact that Old Liu lives in a small town in Pei County and is extremely poor.

In fact, there are supporting production lines, but their production capacity is low and they cannot be produced very fast.

These craftsmen were not the ordinary blacksmiths you would see on the streets, but specialized craftsmen who specialized in making equipment for the army.

No matter how poor Lao Liu is, he will not abandon these people.

The craft has been passed down from generation to generation. They have been working as blacksmiths all year round. They have strong muscles and a kind of beauty of workers!

Walking through it, although the noise is noisy, it is not boring.

Of course, it would be better if Qin Zhen didn’t have Mi Zhu by his side.

Mi Zhu followed Qin Zhen all the way, asking:
"Military Advisor, is the situation really that serious this year?"

"Can you tell me where exactly the disaster occurred?"

“How many refugees do you think there will be?”

Listening to Mi Zhu's words, Qin Zhen couldn't help but sigh:

"Brother Zizhong, can you take a break?"

"After you have a look around, we will discuss in detail!"

When Mi Zhu heard this, he realized that he was being too hasty, so he smiled awkwardly and said:

"It's not that I'm impatient, it's that time is running out and I need confirmation urgently!"

It was obvious that Qin Zhen's expression did not change, and he hurriedly said:
"Well, the military advisor will inspect first!"

After saying this, he stopped talking and followed Qin Zhen quietly.

Seeing this, Qin Zhen shifted his gaze to the blacksmith and began his inspection again.

However, while inspecting, he secretly sighed in his heart that he had underestimated the ancients after all!

To explain why this happened, we have to start from a month ago.

After the military meeting that day, Old Liu called Mi Zhu into his house the next day and told him everything he had said.

When Mi Zhu heard Qin Zhen's true identity, he was stunned.

After being confused, I am confused again!

Old Liu had to tell what had happened during this period and the reason why Qin Zhen used a pseudonym.

Mi Zhu was stunned when he heard that, thinking that his brother-in-law was not kind enough. It was bad enough that he hid the secret from outsiders, but he even hid it from his eldest brother-in-law!

However, he also knew that Liu Bei's situation was difficult and did not care much about it.

After carefully considering the pros and cons, I agreed.

Just as Qin Zhen had speculated, after Mi Zhu considered it in detail, he felt that he had nothing to lose.

In this era, food is also considered hard currency.

Even if there was no drought, I wouldn't lose much money if I sold the goods.

Compared with the money and food he provided to Liu Bei, it was nothing!
So he began to arrange people to inquire about grain prices in various places, and purchased 70,000 to 80,000 shi of grain in a row.

But after acquiring the company for a period of time, Mi Zhu felt more and more that something was wrong.

He thought, since he had already decided to do it, why not do something big!
After careful study, he discovered that there was a huge business opportunity!
You must know that once Huainan was hit by a disaster, if Liu Bei did not seize Huainan, then his pile of grain would be worth a lot of money!

For example, there was a severe drought in Sanfu two years ago. At that time, one hectoliter of grain cost 500,000 yuan, and one hectoliter of beans and wheat cost 200,000 yuan.

Once he sells this batch of grain, a new richest man in the Han Dynasty will be born!

Even if Liu Bei captured Huainan, he would still benefit from it.

Firstly, he contributed food and saved the people. If this news gets out, the good reputation of the Mi family will surely spread far and wide!
Secondly, the severe drought in Huainan will produce a large number of refugees and also vacate a large amount of land. He can save some grain and purchase land at the lowest price.

It can be said that no matter what, it is beneficial to him. The more food he has, the more money he earns!
Then, he made a plan. First, he would buy some emergency food from the surrounding counties so that Liu Bei could use it.

Second, mortgage the family’s land in exchange for a large amount of cash!

Third, go to Jingzhou and find the big families in Jingzhou to buy old grain at low prices!

These old grains are the stored grains of the wealthy and powerful families. They definitely taste bad and some are even infested with insects, but the price is extremely low!
As long as it is purchased in large quantities, the price of one stone can even be reduced to less than one hundred and fifty coins!

And these grains can also be used when drought strikes.

For disaster victims, what matters is not whether the food tastes good or not, but whether it can fill their stomachs!

When famine strikes, people will eat food even if it is mixed with dirt, let alone worms.

After coming up with the plan, he began to prepare.

But before actually implementing it, he had to confirm one thing, that is, the drought would really come.

Because using 10,000 gold to buy food means supporting Liu Bei.

But now he is ready to place his bet directly and take off in one go!
If one thing goes wrong, you will lose everything!

Therefore, in the past few days, Mi Zhu kept pestering Qin Zhen and asking questions.

After Qin Zhen knew Mi Zhu's thoughts, he also felt that Mi Zhu was born in the wrong era.

If it were in the future, he would definitely be a world-class capitalist!

If you have money and courage, there is no way you won’t succeed!

But it would be fine if Mi Zhu asked once or twice, but he was getting annoyed by him asking every day.

That's why he was so cold just now.

After hearing what he said, Mi Zhu finally calmed down.

But Mi Zhu was standing behind him, so he had no intention of inspecting. After thinking for a while, he turned around and said:
"Forget it, Brother Zizhong, why don't you tell me how much food you plan to buy!"

Mi Zhu saw Qin Zhen finally turned around and said with a smile:

"Military Advisor, I plan to buy 1.5 million shi of grain!"

"One million and a half koku?"

Qin Zhen was stunned for a moment and said:
"Where did the Mi family get so much money?"

He also estimated that according to the size of the Mi family, twenty thousand gold would be the maximum they could come up with!

Even if most of it is old grain, at most it can only buy one million shi!
How is Mi Zhu going to make up the rest of the money?
Mi Zhu heard this and stroked his beard and said with satisfaction:

"This is easy. My Mi family has no money, but we can raise funds. I have already spread the word that I want to go to Yizhou to buy Shu brocade and sell it to the Central Plains, Hebei and other places."

"Ask the East Sea nobles to gather a few hundred or a thousand gold coins and return it next spring!"

"I think with the reputation of my Mi family, it won't be difficult to raise another 100 million or 200 million!"

"Even if it is difficult to sustain, we can collect more from other places, and when the grain is sold out, we can make up for the shortfall."

Hearing this, Qin Zhen felt a surge of pity. What a torture! This was too cruel.

So the people under Lao Liu's command are a bunch of lawless criminals, right?
This type of criminal method was more than a thousand years ahead of its time!
It’s no wonder that the ancients were smart. If they hadn’t chosen the wrong development path, there would be no place for the Western barbarians!

Thinking of this, Qin Zhen said:
"If that's the case, I'll give Brother Zizhong a definite answer!" "Just go ahead and buy it. I'll cover the cost of whatever you buy!"

"If Brother Zizhong can really buy so much food, I can give you a good job in the future!"

After hearing what Qin Zhen said, Mi Zhu felt relieved, but then he asked in surprise:
"Good job? What is it?"

"It's hard to say now, but by the end of this year, Zi Zhong will see noticeable results!"

“We have to wait until the end of this year?”

Mi Zhu's expression changed, and he sighed again:
"The actions of a military advisor are really unpredictable. It's only April, and you're already thinking about the end of the year?"

He really wanted to open Qin Zhen's head and take a good look at what was inside.

The current situation is so complicated, I don’t know how Qin Zhen can be so confident.

Qin Zhen naturally didn't care what Mi Zhu thought, he just smiled and said:

"We will know what will happen then!"

"Well, it's getting late now, Brother Zizhong, go back and prepare. It's already April, and whether our army can accomplish great things depends on you, Brother Zizhong!"

When Mi Zhu heard this, he immediately raised his hand and said:
"Military advisor, please don't do this. Zhu is just a businessman and it is difficult for him to take on such a big responsibility!"

"This task still needs the military advisor to take charge!"

"Military advisor, you are busy. I will take my leave now!"

After saying this, he bowed and left.

With Qin Zhen's affirmation, he now feels more confident!
Qin Zhen watched Mi Zhu leave and couldn't help but sigh again. Although Old Liu had been traveling all over the world in his life, he had many noble people around him!

It’s probably hard to find a brother-in-law like Mi Zhu in hundreds of years!
No wonder Mi Zhu's position was always at the top among all the ministers.

People like Mi Zhu can always make a name for themselves in any era.

As he was thinking, he saw the craftsmen in the distance stop and salute towards the door. Looking up, he saw Liu Bei walking towards him with Xu Shu.

Seeing this, he hurried forward and said:
"Why is Ming Gong here?"

Liu Bei had already seen Qin Zhen, and stepped forward and said with a smile:

"I should be looking for the camp today. I didn't see the military advisor, so I asked Yuanzhi to bring me here!"

"By the way, I just saw Zi Zhong leaving in a hurry. I wonder what he did?"

They just happened to meet Mi Zhu at the door and greeted him without asking any detailed questions.

Qin Zhen laughed when he heard this:
"What else could it be?"

"It's about the purchase of food and grass. Brother Zizhong has doubts in his mind, so I came to ask!"

"I see!"

Liu Bei nodded, looked at Qin Zhen, and secretly sighed at Qin Zhen's hard work.

From the moment he took office, he was quite busy.

Apart from military affairs, on the one hand, he had to train the soldiers, and on the other hand, he had to supervise the supply of food and fodder.

Everything is handled in an orderly manner, and his abilities are truly impeccable.

Even if he doesn't need to come up with ideas, his ability to coordinate logistics and all parties alone makes him a top talent!
Thinking that he had thrown all these to Qin Zhen as soon as he arrived, he said with some shame:

"Military advisor has worked hard, but unfortunately I don't have the talent to help him and can't share his worries!"

"What are you talking about, my lord? I eat your salary and worry about your worries. Why should I worry about your worries?"

Qin Zhen smiled modestly, then looked at Xu Shu and said:
"It would be fine if Ming Gong came to express his condolences, but why is Yuan Zhi here?"

Xu Shu grinned upon hearing this:

"Because there is nothing to do in the army, I am afraid that the military advisor will be lazy, so I come to supervise!"

"You kid!"

Qin Zhen cursed with a smile, punched Xu Shu on the shoulder and said:
"I am the military advisor. I should not supervise you, but you come to supervise me instead!"

"Even if you don't tell me, I know it!"

"But you come to peek at my weapon?"

After being punched by Qin Zhen, Xu Shu laughed out loud:
"That's right, my lord has the same idea!"

Seeing Xu Shu raising himself to block the knife, Liu Bei also laughed:

"Yes, I heard from Yuan Zhi that the military advisor was supervising the manufacture of weapons, so I came to take a look!"

"But I don't know what kind of weapons the military advisor is supervising the production of!"

"Since you want to see it, then of course there is no problem!"

Qin Zhen simply turned around and said:

"Someone, bring me a hook-and-sickle spear!"

As soon as he gave the order, a soldier walked into the treasury, and soon came out carrying a long spear.

Liu Bei looked at it carefully and saw that the spear was nearly eight feet long, with two protruding barbs under the tip of the spear, and was extremely sharp.

"This thing has a very strange appearance!"

Xu Shu also nodded and said:

"Yes, the gun type is not standard, but I don't know what it is used for?"

Seeing the two were curious, Qin Zhen took the spear:

"This item is specifically designed to defeat cavalry!"

He laid his spear across the ground, pointed at the sickle and said:
"There are few cavalrymen in our army nowadays, so we must find a way to defeat them. This thing has protrusions on both sides, which can be used to hook the hooves and pull the legs, forcing the horses to be injured. When the cavalrymen fall off their horses, we can stab them directly!"

Looking at Qin Zhen's explanation, Liu Bei nodded and sighed:

"Military Advisor, this thing is quite ingenious!"

He himself was a veteran and knew the dangers of cavalry, most of which lay in sudden charges and constant harassment.

If ordinary infantry encounter cavalry, they will be in danger of death.

It can be said that you can neither beat them nor run away!
In this era, the most common weapon to restrain cavalry was the halberd, but the halberd was not as practical as the gun!

Qin Zhen's weapon can be considered a combination of a spear and a halberd. Although it is not difficult to make, the effect is extremely strong!

This gun moves the target to the horse's legs. If it is equipped on a large scale, it can cause a fatal blow to the cavalry.

Thinking about this, Liu Bei found it more and more interesting:
"Not bad, not bad, this thing is really good! It is indeed a sharp weapon!"

But Xu Shu looked at him and frowned:

"I was wondering what kind of secret weapon it was. Military Advisor, although this weapon is good, it is of no use to our army!"

"There are no elite cavalry in Yuan Shu's army, so it will be difficult for our army to use them when attacking Yuan Shu!"

When Liu Bei heard this, he also reacted:

"Yes, military advisor, since our army is going to fight against Yuan Shu, we should make more swords and spears. Why do we need to make these things?"

Facing the inquiring looks from the two, Qin Zhen picked up the gun and said with a half-smile:

"You two have misunderstood. I made this not for Yuan Shu, but for Lu Bu!"

When Liu Bei and Xu Shu heard this, they were stunned.

The goal is not to fight Yuan Shu, but to deal with Lu Bu. What does this mean?
(End of this chapter)