The Warriors of the Three Kingdoms

It can be said that on the one hand, they are ruling these people politically, and on the other hand, they are bewitching these people ideologically.

This caused the people in the Hanzhong area to be very stable. After all, spiritual control can make the people less rebellious. They all worship Zhang Lu's Five Dou Rice Religion.

Speaking of it, Lu's Five Dou Rice Religion is also the ancestor of Taoism in the land of China.

He is the ancestor of Longhushan Taoism.

Five buckets of rice religion, you can imagine from the name, their teachings are generally similar to Taoism, and the way to join the association is also very clear, that is, you only need to offer five buckets of rice, and you will follow Taoism.

The way of preaching is similar to that of Zhang Jiao, who also uses water to save people and pray to God for healing.

This point was clear to Liu Zheng many years ago.

When Zhang Ning led people in Lingling County next door to Liu Zheng, in order to develop believers, he gradually extended his tentacles to the territory of Hanzhong. However, Zhang Ning, the remnants of the Yellow Turban Army, were not under Zhang Lu. What advantage did the people of the Five Dou Rice Religion take.

This Zhang Lu may not be very famous in history, but he has a grandfather who is very famous.

His grandfather's name is Zhang Daoling, the founder of Zhengdao.

Among many film and television dramas, Zhang Daoling was touted as a god-man. Taoism was also spread by Zhang Daoling and Zhang Lu, and gradually blossomed in this land of China, becoming more and more famous.

Even in some dynasties of later generations, it became the state religion for a time.

Liu Zheng's idea is actually very simple, that is to capture Shangyong. Shangyong is not far from Nanzheng, the county seat of Hanzhong. As long as he captures Shangyong City, he will win the stronghold for attacking Hanzhong. It only needs to increase the number of soldiers and Shangyong, and it can also make Hanzhong more uncomfortable.

At this time, Liu Bei and others were sending troops from Sanfu to attack Hanzhong in the south.

Liu Bei's attack on Hanzhong was more difficult than Liu Zheng's. They sent troops from near Chang'an and went south to Hanzhong. The journey was farther than Liu Zheng's to Hanzhong.

Marching on mountain roads, the terrain is tortuous, and the transportation of grain and grass is not easy, which is a big disadvantage.

Therefore, Liu Zheng is not in a hurry to attack Hanzhong. Liu Zheng is waiting, waiting for Liu Bei's men and Zhang Lu to spend a wave.

If Liu Zheng makes another move, he will be able to cut off Liu Bei's retreat by surprise, and at that time, it can be said that he has caught the turtle in the urn.

Huang Zhong and Gan Ning have guarded Jingzhou for a long time, and they are very familiar with the local situation. With Huang Zhong and Gan Ning sending troops to attack Shangyong, there must be no problem.

Liu Zheng didn't even have any doubts about this.

After issuing this order, Liu Zheng didn't care about these things any more, all he had to do was wait for the news.

"Your Majesty, do you have any other orders?"

Yuan Zhou stood in front of Liu Zheng. After Liu Zheng finished his orders, seeing that Liu Zheng hadn't said much, he took the initiative to ask Liu Zheng.

"No more, let's leave it like this for now. Let's wait until Huang Zhong and Gan Ning take down Shangyong. What is worth noting is the recent development of Liu Bei."

"But this, I don't think many people will say it, you should already know it."

After Liu Zheng finished speaking, he waved his hand, indicating that Yuan Zhou could go down.

Yuan Zhou cupped his hands and planned to go down to work, but before leaving, he remembered something, raised his head again, and said something to Liu Zheng.

"By the way, my lord, a few days ago, Yuan Shang sent an envoy over, saying that he could give us some help."

"Help? What help?"

"This seems to be a businessman who is visiting the Zhen Manor at this time. If His Majesty wants to meet him, I can let him come over."

"Businessman? All right, then go and summon him."

Liu Zhengzheng was worried that he had nothing to do. Now that he saw a businessman appearing, he didn't say much, and quickly replied to Yuan Zhou.

Yuan Zhou heard Liu Zheng's answer, so he went down to summon the businessman.

Liu Zheng is really interested in this businessman.

Firstly, because of the identity of this businessman, people who do business in this era are more or less intelligent people. Chatting with businessmen can bring Liu Zheng a lot of tax revenue, which Liu Zheng likes.

Secondly, this businessman is an envoy sent by Yuan Shang, and because of this, Liu Zheng also needs to meet him.

Not long after Yuan Zhou went down, Liu Zheng received a report from Jin Yiwei, saying that someone asked to see him.

He didn't think too much, knowing that it should be the envoy sent by Yuan Shang.

He waited for a while, and not long after, he saw that the person who came was a man who was nearly forty years old, wearing a cowhide coat. Although it was not appropriate, it looked very good in this November winter.

In terms of appearance, Liu Zheng couldn't see any difference in this person, but his face was still kind, and he should not be a person who fought on the battlefield, which was more in line with the businessman Yuan Shang said.

"Who is this?"

After Liu Zheng came in, he took the initiative to ask.

The man was also terrified, and when he saw Liu Zheng asking, he immediately took the initiative to give his name.

"I'm in Zhongshan, Zhang Shiping, and I met His Majesty."

"Zhang Shiping?"

When Liu Zheng heard this person's name, he frowned, and felt that the name sounded familiar for a moment.

Chapter 939 Zhang Shiping

The name Zhang Shiping was not well known in the Three Kingdoms.

It can even be said that in the entire history of the Three Kingdoms, the name Zhang Shiping has not appeared much, but if you have read the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, you can remember this name very clearly.

Because he appeared in the first episode of Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

He is the traveling merchant who sponsored Liu Bei's uprising.

In fact, Liu Zheng has also heard of Zhang Shiping.

Liu Zheng had personally been to Zhongshan before, to see the Zhen family in Wuji County, and Zhang Shiping's Zhang family was also one of the several big families in Zhongshan.

The Zhen family and the Zhang family also have many marriages and cooperation.

Liu Zheng had been to Zhen's house before, but he had never been to Zhang's house.

The Zhang family and the Su family have always been engaged in business, and most of the time, they are between Karasuma and Dahan.

Mainly in the horse business.

After Liu Zheng heard Zhang Shiping briefly describe his identity, he immediately thought of some impressions of Zhang Shiping in his mind.

Soon I thought of this person, the businessman who sponsored Liu Bei's uprising in history.

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Although Zhang Shiping came to Jianye under Yuan Shang's order.

But what Yuan Shang asked him to do, Liu Zheng still didn't know.

Hearing Liu Zheng's inquiry, Zhang Shiping didn't dare to hide anything, saluted Liu Zheng, and at the same time revealed his purpose of coming.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, I have come to negotiate a deal with Your Majesty on the orders of Mr. Yuan Shang."

When Liu Zheng heard Zhang Shiping's words, he immediately showed a hint of curiosity.

"Oh? You're here to discuss business with me. It's a little strange. Tell me what kind of business you can get the Patriarch of your family to visit Jianye City in person."

After Liu Zheng heard Zhang Shiping's words, he immediately showed interest. Zhang Shiping was also pleasantly surprised, so he didn't dare to hesitate, so he started chatting with him.

"I heard that Your Majesty has always wanted to buy some horses. My Zhang family has been going to the northern Xianbei gathering place to trade goods all year round, and I often transport horses from there. If Your Majesty wants horses, our Zhang family can provide them for His Majesty." supply."

Zhang Shiping hit the nail on the head as soon as he opened his mouth, and Liu Zheng was immediately interested.

What is the purpose of Liu Zheng sending his troops to the north to help Yuan Shang?Isn't it just to open up the border between the north and his territory, so as to buy some horses from the north.

His territory is generally in the south. Although the ships and sailors are powerful, he lacks war horses and often has no absolute dominance on the battlefield.

If he had 10,000+ cavalry, the world would have been wiped out by him long ago, and he had completed the important task of dominating the world.

Why wait until now, nearly ten years have passed, and only half of the country has been conquered.

It is precisely because there are no war horses that the mobility is insufficient.

If he could connect to the north, and the Zhang family would continuously provide him with horses from the Xianbei and Karasuma clans, then Liu Zheng's conquest of the world would be much faster.

That's why Liu Zheng immediately frowned when he heard Zhang Shiping's words, and hurriedly asked another question.

"What does Master Zhang mean by these words?"

"Your Majesty, some time ago we sent people to the north again and reconnected with the Xianbei clan. After talking with them, we learned that they are short of food and grass recently and want to sell war horses, so take this opportunity I just think this is a good opportunity to help His Majesty buy a large number of war horses from the north."

Zhang Shiping just mentioned something briefly, and Liu Zheng immediately started to think for himself.

This kind of thing is not difficult to guess.

Northern Youzhou.In addition to the geographical scope governed by the Han Dynasty, there are a large number of Karasuma people living in the Liaodong and Liaoxi regions.

These Karasuma people are divided into different tribes, large and small.

The total population is less than one million.For those who can fight, it is actually estimated that there are only 10,000+ to 20.

In the north of the Karasuma people, a group of Xianbei people gathered.

There are more of these people than Karasuma people.

Of course, those people have less communication with the big man.

However, some businessmen traveled thousands of miles and would go to the territory of the Xianbei people.

Because in many cases, the territory of the Karasuma people does not have much profit at all, after all, they are too close.

Only when they go farther to the Xianbei people, can they have more bargaining power for the goods in their hands.

And now it's November.

It's winter in the north.

When winter comes, food is the most important thing for those nomads.

In the past two years, the north has been in a state of scuffle.All major tribes are short of food.

If a large amount of grain and grass can be transported to the north at this time, it must be exchanged.A lot of war horses.

The last time Liu Zheng exchanged war horses from the north was two or three years ago.

The new batch of foals has already grown into the main force on the battlefield.

So it's him again, time for you to go north with grain and grass for horses.

Of course, if Liu Zheng went directly to exchange for the other party, he might not give it to him, especially those Karasuma people who now fully support Yuan Xi.

If he knew that Liu Zheng was the one who was in exchange for flattery, he would definitely not support Liu Zheng.

So they can only find people and horses from the Xianbei people in the north in exchange for horses.

And in this case, there must be a caravan familiar with the north to carry out.

In fact, the purpose of Liu Zheng's friendship with the Zhen family was also the same.

He just took a fancy to the Zhen family's business status in the north.

Once he needs horses, he can directly ask the Zhen family's caravan to buy them for him from the north.

Recently, the Zhen family has indeed helped him a bit, helping him purchase two or three thousand war horses from the north one after another.

But this amount is far from enough.

After all, the Zhen family's main business is not selling horses. It is much more difficult for them to buy horses than the Zhang family.

In fact, Liu Zheng already felt this when he went to Jizhou before, and the Zhen family would go to the Su family to buy horses.It can be seen that it is really difficult for them to transport these war horses to the Jiangdong area these days.

But it’s different with the Zhang family and the Su family. Their main business is selling horses from the north to the south.

The profit in the middle is more than 10 times.

Originally, the Zhang family and the Su family could completely ignore Liu Zheng in this matter, and just do it secretly.

But people like them who can make their family so big are naturally not fools. They must know that they are doing it secretly, and it is definitely more difficult than relying on a big man to cooperate and make a fortune together.

Doing it secretly by yourself, although earning a lot, is also risky. Once the superiors are aware of it, they will definitely intervene in what they are doing.

9 Chapter Forty

But if they work with the big guys, the profit is less, but the security risk is much smaller.

More importantly, they don't need to pay too much capital.

Basically, Liu Zheng paid for the capital they needed to cooperate with a big man like Liu Zheng. They only need to run errands to make a lot of money.

You can also curry favor with Liu Zheng, thereby promoting your relationship with Liu Zheng.