Liaodong Prefecture.
"Everyone, news has come from Luoyang. His Majesty has passed away and the First Prince Liu Bian has ascended the throne. How should we face the current situation?”Liu Hao looked at his subordinates and said.
"My lord, Liaodong is far away from Luoyang, so the storm in Luoyang won't affect this place. Moreover, we don't have an imperial edict, so it's not good for us to interfere in Luoyang's matters.”Guo Jia said.
"I agree with Fengxiao's suggestion. Although the lord is a relative of the Han clan, it is not appropriate to interfere in the matter of the succession of the throne.”Xi Zhong added.
"My lord, you only need to strengthen your own strength now. No matter how the situation changes, strength is the foundation.”Xu Shu said. He had followed Xi Zhong for almost half a year and had matured a lot.
The generals didn't say anything. They weren't very good at political infighting.
Although Liaodong had conquered Wuhuan, Fuyu, and Goguryeo in the past two years, it had also depleted Zhang Ning's wealth. If it weren't for Liu Hao's profitable businesses, he would have been unable to afford it.
What they needed to do now was to recuperate and digest the territory they had conquered, turning it into their own strength.
After some discussion, Liu Hao did not make any moves. He only told Mo Hao to pay attention to Luoyang's every move.
Not long after Xi Zhong and the others left the prefect's manor, a servant came in to report.
"Lord Marquis, Mi Zhu requests an audience!"
"Invite him in!"
This was not the first time Liu Hao and Mi Zhu had met. The glassware and paper that Liu Hao made were sold through the Mi family.
When the Mi Family had their eyes on the Drunken Immortal Brew, Mi Zhu had taken the initiative to come to Liaodong to seek cooperation with Liu Hao.
The Mi Family had their own caravan that covered many parts of the Great Han Dynasty, so Liu Hao naturally agreed.
"Greetings, Lord Marquis!"
"Zizhong, there's no need to be so polite between us.”Liu Hao said with a smile.
"Why are you here this time?"
"Lord Marquis, can we expand the scale of paper production? Many scions of the great clans like to use this kind of paper. The ones I ship out from Liaodong every time are simply not enough to sell.”Mi Zhu said with a bitter face.
The paper that Liu Hao exchanged for Paper Making from the system was much better than the paper of this era. The paper surface was pure white and would not be soaked in ink. The cost was also very low.
"Zizhong, I won't lie to you. The production cost of paper is not high, and it's not very troublesome to train craftsmen to make paper. However, I can't mass produce it.”
"Lord Marquis, why is this?" Mei Zhu was a little puzzled. Could it be that he didn't want to earn money?
"Paper is different from other things. If it is rare and expensive, only the children of the aristocratic families can afford it. However, if it is cheap and ordinary poor people can afford it, then we will become a thorn in the eyes of the aristocratic families.”Liu Hao explained.
Mei Zhu was also a smart person. When Liu Hao said this, he instantly understood. Cold sweat broke out on his forehead as he felt a little afraid.
Aristocratic families monopolized knowledge. If everyone could use paper, it would be much easier to read and write. At that time, the monopoly of aristocratic families on knowledge would be broken. Aristocratic families would definitely not stand by and do nothing.
In fact, Liu Hao still had a great weapon that he had not brought out, and that was the printing technique. If the aristocratic families knew that books could be printed on a large scale, none of them would let Liu Hao off.
Therefore, up until now, Liu Hao had controlled the quantity of paper very well and sold it at a high price. Anyway, those big aristocratic families did not care about this little bit of money.
However, in the Liaodong Academy, Liu Hao had already printed the books that Cai Yong had brought over when he first came to Liaodong. He had specially built a library in the Liaodong Academy for the students to borrow.
"Many thanks for Lord Marquis 'guidance!" Mi Zhu thanked him.
"It's nothing. I wonder if Zizhong has considered the matter that I thought about with him last time?”Liu Hao waved his hand and said.
The last time Mei Zhu came to Liaodong, Liu Hao had mentioned to Mei Zhu that he should move the Mi Family to Liaodong. At that time, Mei Zhu had rejected him and said that he would consider it.
"Lord Marquis, my Mi Clan has settled down in Xu Prefecture for many years. If we leave, we won't be able to take those properties with us.”Mi Zhu said.
"Zizhong, I just received news that His Majesty has passed away. You should be able to see that the real chaotic world has arrived. If your Mi Family wants to continue, you must find a backer. Tao Qian of Xu Prefecture is already old, and his two sons are also weak and incompetent.”Liu Hao said.
Mei Zhu's foresight was not bad. Otherwise, he would not have been able to lead the Mei Family to this extent. Liu Hao believed that he could more or less see through the current situation.
The Mi Family was a business family with a lot of wealth. In this chaotic world, such a family had no other choice but to choose a backer.
"Lord Marquis, may I have some time to consider?”Mei Zhu still couldn't make up his mind.
"Alright, but Zizhong, you should know that you can't miss this opportunity. Some opportunities have passed, but you'll miss them for the rest of your life.”Liu Hao reminded.
Sending charcoal in the snow and adding flowers to the flowers had different meanings. If he waited until Liu Hao's power grew and came to seek refuge, the treatment would definitely be different.
......
Luoyang.
After Liu Bian ascended the throne, He Jin was very proud of becoming the country's uncle.
However, things were not as he thought. Zhang Rang stayed by Liu Bian's side and spoke a few words from time to time. Liu Bian did not trust him as an uncle.
Zhang Rang had never forgotten Liu Hong's last wish. Even though Liu Bian had ascended the throne, he was still trying to find a way for Liu Xie to inherit the throne.
He had secretly sought refuge with Empress Dowager Dong and was now the Grand Empress Dowager. Liu Xie had grown up by her side.
Zhang Rang gave her an idea to let him listen to the government behind the curtain and confer Liu Xie the title of Prince Chen Liu.
Empress He became Empress Dowager He after Liu Bian ascended the throne. She was very angry about Empress Dowager Dong's power behind the curtain and had a big fight with her, but it had no effect.
Empress Dowager He then summoned He Jin into the palace and discussed countermeasures with him. With the excuse that a foreign vassal could not stay in Luoyang for a long time, she was forced back to her fief. On the way, she sent people to poison Empress Dowager Dong to death and even seized the military power of her brother Dong Zhong.
After settling the matter of Empress Dowager Dong, Zhang Rang had been going against He Jin, speaking ill of He Jin in Liu Bian's ears, causing Liu Bian to not trust He Jin very much.
He Jin was very angry about this, but his sister, Empress Dowager He, was protecting Zhang Rang and the others. He did not want to fall out with his sister, so he called Cao Cao, Yuan Shao, and the others over to discuss countermeasures.
"Zhang Rang is really hateful. I spared his life, but now he's going against me.”He Jin said angrily.
"Now that the military power is in the Great General's hands, why didn't the Great General kill Zhang Rang and the others in the name of 'cleaning up the monarchs'?”Cao Cao suggested.
"Great General doesn't want to hurt his relationship with the Empress Dowager.”Yuan Shao said.
"I know my heart." He Jin said happily as if he had found a confidant. Then, he said,"I wonder if I have a way to get rid of Zhang Rang?”
"The Great General can use a borrowed knife to kill. He can summon a group of soldiers into the capital and let him kill Zhang Rang. This way, the relationship between the Great General and his sister will not be hurt, and Zhang Rang and the others can be eliminated.”Yuan Shao's eyes flashed with a bright light. No one knew what he was thinking in his heart.
The new book set sail. I hope everyone will support me, this book will bring everyone into a different Three Kingdoms.
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