Volume 4 is in the ascendant Chapter 459: Yuan's Exile
The State of Wei sent a dowry, and Bai Tu also used the private guards of the Chu Palace to welcome them along the way...
Theoretically, Bai Tu did not hold any ceremony, but everyone knew that this was to clear the name of "Madam Xiahou".
"Zi Yang, long time no see! You must have worked hard at sea? You have seldom been home in the past two or three years... I heard that Zi Yang's family had a new son a while ago? Congratulations!" Bai Tu said a few polite words when he saw his old acquaintance Liu Ye.
Upon hearing this, Liu Ye grinned and said, "I pay my respects to the King of Chu. My youngest son was born in April!"
I don't know why, but Liu Ye always feels that there is a lot of malice in the word order of Bai Tu - it's as if I'm not at home all year round, but I have a child "inexplicably"! In terms of time, I was at home, okay? And why can't I go home all the time, don't you know?
At the same time, Liu Ye's heart shuddered: Why does the King of Chu already know that a "nobody" like me, whose concubine gave birth to a bastard son more than three months ago, already know about this?
Since the baby was just born not long ago and was a bastard, Liu Ye would naturally not publicize it. Even in the Wei court, some of his distant ministers probably didn't know about it!
However, Bai Tu, who was thousands of miles away in Jinling, knew...
And he even brought it up? What is he hinting at?
"Zi Yang came here on his own ship this time? Not bad... what's it called? The Divine Turtle?" Bai Tu asked another seemingly irrelevant question.
"…This is from our king's "The Longevity of the Turtle." Liu Ye emphasized it specially. He always felt that Bai Tu was hinting at something when he mentioned this name at this time.
"Well, I heard from the Ministry of Works that it is almost catching up with the sea ship launched by the General's Mansion that year. Not bad, not bad." Bai Tu looked praising.
"Thank you, King Chu, for your compliment." Liu Ye now understood that Bai Tu was trying to hit the State of Wei. The State of Chu knew very well that Bai Tu was poaching Wei's boatmen and stealing their technology - after all, he even knew that his concubine had given birth to a child.
Although Bai Tu didn't say much considering the current relationship between Chu and Wei, the warning was obvious!
"By the way, congratulations to King Wei for finally wiping out the last remnant of resistance by Yuan Shikai. But please be careful of his counterattack in the future." Bai Tu congratulated with a smile.
When this matter was mentioned, Liu Ye also responded with a smile: "It's all thanks to the strength of Chu Jia!"
That's right, just three months ago, the remaining forces of the Yuan family in Youzhou were completely defeated by Cao Cao. Yuan Tan took the remaining people to join the Southern Xiongnu Chanyu Luanti Huchuquan, wanting to unite the Xiongnu with Gao Gan in the east of Bingzhou, and Han Sui in Liangzhou in the west, starting with the integration of Bingzhou and then counterattacking the Wei State.
Now Cao Cao has also focused his attention on Bingzhou...
However, when it comes to Chujia, which is plate armor, although it did appear in the final battle of Jicheng in Youzhou, it was only for training purposes. In fact, without this Chujia, Yuan Tan would not be Cao Cao's opponent.
but……
The Chu army did play a huge role in Youzhou. Relying on the two thousand heavy cavalry in plate armor that cost them everything, the Gongsun family crossed the Liaoze Lake and occupied the three counties of Liaoxi, Yuyang and Shanggu. The Wei State only got Daijun, Guangyang, Zhuojun, and Youbeiping - that is, the four counties in the southern part of Youzhou. Northern Youzhou and several counties extending to the northeast were all occupied by the Gongsun family.
Of course, Cao Cao was not very active, mainly because of the "cost" issue - Liaoxi, Yuyang, and Shanggu were all border counties facing the Wuhuan in the north.
Since the Gongsun clan was so active, they naturally had to bear the corresponding responsibility for suppressing the Wuhuan.
It’s just that the Gongsun clan has always been the overlord of the Northeast, and has taught the Wuhuan and others a lesson more than once or twice, especially after they had the Chu Jia… For the Wuhuan, who only knew how to charge head-on, this thing was simply a battlefield reaper and an irresistible hammer!
Moreover, after sending troops, Gongsun clan also quickly sent envoys to Wei State, hoping to form a united front with it, and expressed that they could help him defeat the Xiongnu. Naturally, Cao Cao did not want to fall out with Gongsun clan now...
The reason why Cao Cao was determined to deploy defenses in Beiping and occupy the southern part of Youbeiping was mainly for Tuyin - this place was considered nothing special before, but now it is considered to be an excellent port location!
In addition, the port that Wei State had been building before, which is also the place where the divine turtle was launched into the water, is Zhangwu Port in Zhangwu County, Bohai County, Jizhou. It is named after the place name and also to directly announce that this port is to "demonstrate military prowess."
In fact, when Bai Tu heard the news, he felt a little regretful...
If you look at the map, you will know that Tuyin County and Zhangwu County are actually Tangshan Port and Huanghua Port in later generations!
It seems that Wei State also has capable people who have great potential if they are pushed hard.
If Gan Ning was not in Danzhou this year, but stayed in Dagang in Youzhou, given his temperament, he would definitely provide support at sea after knowing that Gongsun had taken action, and then seize Tuyin!
However, since Gan Ning was not there, Ling Tong, who stayed behind in Dagang, obviously lacked the ability to make decisive decisions - not only did he not see the importance of Tuyin in terms of ability, but even if he could, he was not a governor and had no power to send troops on his own.
But now that Bai Tu mentioned this matter, his smiling expression made Liu Ye smile as well.
yes……
It’s all thanks to Chu Jia that Gongsun clan dared to take advantage of Wei State!
Two thousand sets of plate armor...
The Wei State even suspected that this was given to the Gongsun family for free or at a low price in order to control the Wei State!
Given the price of plate armor, the Wei State has to prepare slowly, and it has not given up on imitation. So far, only a few hundred sets have been traded. Even though Liaodong has become a holy place to escape disasters since the beginning of the chaotic times, how can it afford to purchase 2,000 sets in such a poor and remote place?
However, during the subsequent contacts, Wei State also found out that Gongsun had mortgaged many rich mines and some future "currency printing rights" to Chu State, so it borrowed 2,000 sets of plate armor...
What else can I say?
On the one hand, they scolded the Gongsun family for being brainless and only caring about immediate interests, and on the other hand, they scolded the State of Chu for being naive. They were not afraid that the Gongsun family would turn against them in the future and they would lose all their money!
Of course, no matter how much they curse, everyone knows that the Gongsun clan does not consider the immediate interests. Now they are blocked in Liaoze by the Wei State and cannot snatch the "remnants" of the Yuan clan at all. They can only shrink in Liaodong, but there is no benefit at all.
As for whether the State of Chu was naive?
Xun Yu, Guo Jia and others were very suspicious. Did the State of Chu ever think about Gongsun breaking the agreement, or was simply not worried about him breaking the agreement?
"What does your Majesty think of the Divine Turtle?" Liu Ye asked carefully.
"I haven't seen it yet..." Bai Tu's truthful words made Liu Ye feel helpless.
Liu Ye naturally knew that Bai Tu must have sent people to inquire about the situation a long time ago. What's the difference between seeing it with your own eyes? What you are asking is what do you think of the report given to you by the Ministry of Industry... You are talking as if you are a professional and can see anything!
At the same time, Liu Ye even suspected that Bai Tu’s “didn’t see” was a literal meaning, or did he mean... disdain?
He hoped it was the latter.
Bai Tu also knew that Liu Ye was going to formally propose to "buy a ship"!
There were many princes who were obsessed with catching up with Chu's technology, but Cao Cao was the first one to focus on seagoing ships and even proposed to buy ships...
