Three Kingdoms: Stealing the Tiger Talisman and forcing Yuan Shao to become a monk

Chapter 392 Xuzhou Commercial Affairs Unraveled

Chen Liu, the prefect's mansion.

"What did you say? You say it again?!"

Xiahou Dun opened his eyes wide, stared at Li Er and Li San in front of him, and said through gritted teeth.

Li Er and Li San were silent like cicadas, they didn't dare to take a breath, they were trembling, but the news that should be said still had to be said, so they could only bravely tell the price given by Wang, Sun and Liu.

"General, over there... over there they say they can be stolen and sold, but a set of armor costs ten taels of gold!" Li Er's voice was trembling when he spoke.

But Li Er and Li San were also very wronged in their hearts, and the price was not set by them.

It was the price set by the craftsman Sun Wangliu and the others went to find. You General Xiahou thinks the price is too high, so you go and talk to them. What's the use of shouting so loudly at the two of us?

Xiahou Dun was panting heavily, Cao Cao sent people to Xuzhou to find a way to steal and sell Xuzhou armor, he knew.

It's just that in Xiahou Dun's view, such a thing can't be done at such a high price.

How about the best armor?Can it make people invulnerable?
Even if you think about it, you know it's impossible!

If the Xuzhou armor could really make people invulnerable, the [-] horsemen Sun Ce brought out would not have lost more than half of them in battle!
And Yuan Tan is not still shrinking in Xuzhou now, he has already sent troops to conquer them.

Although he had never seen the real Xuzhou armor, Xiahou Dun came to a correct conclusion based on his own battlefield experience.

Xuzhou's armor may be better than the armor equipped by the princes from all walks of life, or even a lot better, but it is far from indispensable.

It's just that Cao Cao is not only his elder brother, but also the lord of Xiahou Dun, the prime minister of the Han Dynasty, and Duke Wei of the Han Dynasty.

Its status is not what it used to be when the army was just raised in the early years. Even Xiahou Dun didn't want to disobey Cao Cao's intentions, lest he damage Cao Cao's prestige.

But now, the news that Li Er and Li San sent back really made Xia Houdun unbearable.

A set of Xuzhou armor, dare to offer the price of ten taels of gold!
You know, gold and silver have always been scarce metals in China, and silver is already scarce, let alone gold.

The exchange rate between the two is not as simple as one to ten.

If ten taels of gold were used to buy grain, it would be enough to buy 1000 taels of corn, and this was only in Chenliu.

In affluent places like Yizhou and Jingzhou, twelve taels of gold can buy 500 shimi, almost enough to support a Qubu made by [-] people for a month's military rations!

But now, we can only summon one set of Xuzhou armor?

If Xiahoudun hadn't known that Cao Cao was not that kind of reckless person, he really wanted to fly back to Xudu to meet Cao Cao in person and advise him not to do so.

Li Er and Li San looked at Xiahou Dun who seemed to be on the verge of rage, and his body was shaking non-stop.

Although they were spies, and they were able to be entrusted with important tasks by Cheng Yu to go to Xuzhou to carry out the task of conspiring to steal and sell Xuzhou armor, their status is not low.

But their status, in front of Xia Houdun, is a fart!
To put it bluntly, Xiahoudun drew his sword and beheaded the two of them in the hall, and they both died in vain. At most Xiahoudun was scolded by Cao Cao a few times, and if he died, he would pay a fine.

But their lives were in vain.

So Li Er and Li San subconsciously turned their attention for help to Cao Hong and Cao Xiu next to Xiahou Dun.

Sensing the eyes of the two, Cao Hong shook his head and ignored it. Although he was not as extreme as Xiahou Dun, he felt that Xuzhou armor was dispensable.

However, Cao Hong was extremely stingy by nature and would not even lend money to his own relatives and brothers.

Right now, Cao Cao is spending a lot of money to buy Xuzhou armor. Although it is not his Cao Hong's money, Cao Hong and Cao's family are one, and he naturally feels distressed.

If Xiahoudun could stop this matter here, Cao Hong would be happy to see it succeed, so he simply turned his head and ignored Li Er and Li San.

Li Er and Li San looked at Cao Hong who had turned his head away, and they were about to cry in despair, saying that we spies were not responsible for this matter.

You big men and gods are fighting, so what's the point of tossing us little ghosts.

Seeing Xia Houdun getting more and more angry, Cao Xiu, who had been silent all this time, suddenly got up and said with a smile, "Uncle, my nephew has other ideas, can you let my nephew talk about it? "

Seeing Cao Xiu speak, Li Er and Li San's eyes lit up, showing hope.

Xiahou Dun glanced at Cao Xiu, snorted, sat back in his seat, looked at Li Er and Li San angrily, and shouted: "In that case, Wen Lie, tell me!"

Cao Xiu saw Xia Houdun's posture that if he couldn't tell how ugly he was, he would draw his sword and kill Li Er and Li San.

I couldn't help laughing wryly, shook my head and said, "Uncle thinks it's unnecessary to buy Xuzhou armor, or is it too expensive?"

Xiahou Dun raised his eyes and said, "Are you trying to reason with me, or ask me again?"

Cao Xiu waved his hand and said, "Uncle, why bother to get angry with my nephew, in fact, uncle also knows that Xuzhou Kai may not be as brilliant as the outside world, but the effect is definitely there, but uncle thinks the price is too expensive, and I don't want me, Cao Wei, to pay such a big price." , it’s cheaper for Yuan Tan’er.”

Hearing Cao Xiu mentioning Yuan Tan, Xiahou Dun's eyes became even more angry, he hammered the table in his hand resentfully, gritted his teeth and said, "Wen Lie's words are on point, yes, it's not that I, Xiahou Dun, don't know that Xuzhou Kai is good, I just feel that it is a shame that this gold was given to Yuan Tan for nothing!"

Cao Xiu sighed inwardly, Xiahou Dun's reaction was not beyond his expectation.

In fact, when Cao Xiu proposed to Cao Cao the smuggling of Xuzhou armor in Xudu, he had already anticipated the current situation.

After all, Cao Ren and Xia Houyuan, the two clan generals in Cao Weizhong, died in the hands of Yuan Tan.

But now instead of attacking Yuan Tan, they did business with Yuan Tan. If Cao Xiu and Xiahou Dun lived in different positions, it would probably be unacceptable.

Cao Xiu is different from Xiahou Dun and Cao Hong.

It was their two brothers who died in Shouchun, but for Cao Xiu, a distant relative of the Cao family, the connection with these two uncles is actually not that close.

The two uncles died in Shouchun. Although Cao Xiu was in grief, it was just grief.

In troubled times, parting from life to death is a common thing, not to mention the fact that the general is out in battle, dying in a battle before the battle is a common thing for soldiers, Cao Xiu has long been mentally prepared.

Taking a breath, Cao Xiu said calmly: "Uncle, let's look at it this way. Xuzhou armor is a priceless thing in this world. Even Yuan Tan, as far as our spies have found out, the entire Xuzhou, Xuzhou armor stock is also But five or six thousand sets."

Cao Xiu said while recalling the information he had collected, and slowly sorted out the current situation for Xiahou Dun one by one: "It has only been half a year since the appearance of Xuzhou Kai, and during this half year, Yuan Tan was first sold to Jingzhou and Jiangdong add up to nearly [-] sets of Xuzhou armor, and now add these [-] to [-] sets in stock, and there are no more than [-] sets."

"This means that even in Xuzhou, the output of Xuzhou's armor is quite limited a month, at most two or three thousand sets of armor. It's hard to say, there are quite a few of them, which were stored by Yuan Tan earlier."

Hearing what Cao Xiu said, Xiahou Dun also gradually realized: "Wen Lie means that if these armors are bought, next year, the tiger and leopard cavalry will be trained, and the contact of the princes of the four directions has been established. When we attack the Central Plains, Then Yuan Tan, you don’t have any armor to use?”

Seeing that Xiahoudun finally came to his senses, Cao Xiu's eyes showed relief, and he nodded and said, "That's right. At that time, Yuan Tan saw that on the battlefield, he didn't have soldiers equipped with Xuzhou armor, but we were equipped with Xuzhou armor." How frustrated would he be if all the tigers and leopards were attacked and killed?"

(End of this chapter)