Volume 1 Jiangdong Fengyun Chapter 29 Chen's Business
After Bai Tu said goodbye to Liu Bei, he wanted to return to Xiaopei first, and choose an opportunity to secretly cross the river with Lu Bu, Chen Gong, and a small number of trusted guards - Bai Tu did not even tell Liu Bei the specific itinerary.
However, when he was about to leave the city, he was stopped by an old man.
"Mr. Bai, do you think the Chen residence is too simple? Didn't we agree last time that you would come and sit for a while in your free time?"
That’s right, the person who came was none other than Chen Gui, the old fox from Xuzhou!
"It's Mr. Chen. I'm busy with worldly affairs, so I'm sorry to trouble you to care about me." Bai Tu said politely.
At the same time, I was also muttering in my heart, what does this old fox want to do? Wasn't it just a polite remark before, why did he come to invite me specially now?
"The Chen family has prepared a banquet. Would you mind joining us, Mr. Bai?" Chen Gui invited clearly.
"this……"
"The paper created by Mr. Bai is indeed a sacred tool for the country. What's more important is that Mr. Bai is so humble and generous. The Chen family also has several paper mills. I wonder if I could ask Mr. Bai for some advice?" Chen Gui said.
I don't believe you - Bai Tu instinctively suspected that this old guy was not doing this for the paper, it was just an excuse.
However, since Chen Gui had already said so, Bai Tu was curious and wanted to take a look. In short, Chen Gui would not do anything bad to him now.
Whether in history or in novels, Chen Gui was always a die-hard fan of Cao Cao, or rather...his vision was worthy of his age, and he saw that Cao Cao had a bright future.
When Tao Qian was around, Chen Gui never tried his best. The benevolent Liu Bei could not make him open his heart, nor could the brave Lu Bu make him convinced. Even when Yuan Shu, who had a good relationship with him, took the initiative to invite him, Chen Gui just treated him as a waste...
As soon as Cao Cao arrived, Chen Gui immediately teamed up with his son Chen Deng to package Lu Bu and Xuzhou as a gift for promotion!
In history, Chen Gui was not an ordinary fence-sitter. When dealing with Tao Qian, Lu Bu and Liu Bei, Chen Gui just acted as if he was not open to them, nor did he resist them, and just wanted to keep himself out of trouble.
However, when Lü Bu and Yuan Shu wanted to form an alliance, Chen Gui immediately realized that the alliance would pose a threat to Cao Cao, so he changed his previous strategy of keeping himself safe and took the initiative to instigate it...
It can be seen that this old guy looks cunning, but in fact he is decisive!
Chen Gui really did as he said, he was just discussing the papermaking workshop with Bai Tu. At first, Bai Tu only told Chen Gui some key points of improving the papermaking technique without noticing - anyway, this was what Bai Tu wanted to make public.
However, Chen Gui still dragged him to continue the banquet. Just when Bai Tu was about to lose his patience, Chen Gui said, "Mr. Bai, you should call me 'Envoy Bai' or 'Mr. Bai' from now on. Don't be so impatient."
"Yes, yes, I still need to learn more from you." Bai Tu agreed.
It was only afterwards that Bai Tu figured out that what Chen Gui meant by this was that after he worshipped Lu Bu as his adoptive father, he actually completed the transformation from a celebrity and counselor to a true "lord"!
After all, the prefect himself can also be respectfully addressed as "Envoy". Bai Tu was the prefect of Pei County before, and in terms of actual power...his position as the governor of Yangzhou is not greater than that of the prefect of Pei County. But Chen Gui thinks that he can now be called "Envoy", which is full of deep meaning - this guy's vision is amazing.
"There is not much to learn from an old man like me, but... I do have a 'business ' that I can discuss with Envoy Bai." Chen Gui said.
"Is it a paper mill? Tu has never thought about making a profit from basic paper." Bai Tu said.
"No, it's a canal shipping business going south." Chen Gui said.
"Grain transport?" Bai Tu asked in surprise.
Can the Chen family still do the canal business now? Xuzhou's Guangling County has been lost , so there shouldn't be any ports near the Yangtze River...
At the same time, Bai Tu was also confused. What did this business say to him?
"This... Although Tu is the governor of Yangzhou, I don't know when Yangzhou can be truly pacified. It's better to wait for this business..."
"No, this business should be done now! The Chen family wants to ship a batch of goods to Jiangdong. After thinking over and over, they still don't know which one will make the most money. Now I think... how about sending a thousand cavalrymen?" Chen Guiming said.
Bai Tu immediately understood what Chen Gui meant—he wanted to help him transport troops to Jiangdong!
Now that the Jianghuai area is all under Yuan Shu's control, Bai Tu and Chen Gong have already believed that it is impossible to transport troops from Xuzhou to Jiangdong on a large scale. Even with Liu Bei's full support, this road cannot be opened.
But now Chen Gui said he could...
Bai Tu thought about it carefully and did not think that Chen Gui was bragging. After all, as the top family in Xuzhou, the Chen family had influence in Huainan before. Even though Guangling County was no longer under the control of the governor of Xuzhou, this business did not go through the channels of the court. Therefore, even after the flag on the city wall changed, the Chen family's "ways" would not become invalid so quickly!
There should be quite a few families doing water transport business privately these days, and the Chen family... should be considered one of the larger ones.
Of course, it is really impossible to transport 5,000 cavalry over there. The Chen family’s limit is - 1,000 cavalry!
Bai Tu also thought about whether Chen Gui was going to trick him, but then he changed his mind and felt that it was impossible.
The Chen family is now in Pengcheng, how far is it from Xiaopei? If Bai Tu and Lu Bu get into trouble, won't Zhang Liao and Gao Shun be there overnight?
Besides, if Bai Tu was really tricked by him, Liu Bei would not be able to tolerate it!
Would he make fun of his entire family?
However, Bai Tu still wondered, "Mr. Chen is so kind! But...what virtue and ability did I have to deserve Mr. Chen's help?"
This is not just a favor. If they help Bai Tu this time, the Chen family's trade route will be ruined!
Before, whether it was Guangling or Wujun, the princes were unable to completely control the local areas, so caravans like the Chen family's could naturally use their connections.
But since they helped Bai Tu to send down the divine soldiers from the sky, there is a 80% chance that the Chen family will be put on the "blacklist".
Could it be that Chen Gui saw that I had the aura of a king and was ready to stop being a fan of Cao Cao and become a fan of me? — Bai Tu had a fantasy in his mind.
"It's just a small favor. Besides... Envoy Bai will have a fight with that bastard... that villain Yuan Shu. I am doing my best to help. I hope that when Envoy Bai recaptures Shouchun in the future, he can rescue my son Chen Ying who is detained by that villain." Chen Gui was unusually angry and almost said a dirty word to Yuan Shu.
Bai Tu then remembered that among Yuan Shu's previous suicidal moves, one of them was to recruit Chen Gui to work for him. When Chen Gui refused, Yuan Shu actually detained his second son Chen Ying and forced Chen Gui to submit... But Chen Gui still ignored him!
Looks like this has already happened...
Chen Gui is now extremely annoyed with Yuan Shu. More importantly, the Chen family has indeed been targeted by Yuan Shu. Those connections he has established in Guangling and Jiangdong may turn against them at any time. It is better to help Bai Tu before they expire!
First, it was to make friends with Bai Tu, second, it was to create some trouble for Yuan Shu, and third... it was also to keep a hope of rescuing Chen Ying.
Bai Tu didn't dare to promise too much, but he promised that as long as there was a chance in the future, he would rescue Chen Ying. At the same time, he made an agreement with Chen Gui to rush to Jiangdong!
