Jiang Gan met Tao merchants while in Tan County and conveyed Tao Qian's opinions.

The pottery merchant was also under great pressure during this period. Liu He pressed him step by step outside and the entanglement of the Donghai family inside, which made him dare not relax at all. With the help of Sun Ce, he controlled the powerful people of the Donghai family in time, but this did not mean the end. Almost every day, lobbyists came to the door, bulging their lips and shaking their tongues, using both soft and hard, coercing and tempting, and demanding that he release the heads of the family. If Mi Zhu had not blocked him, he would have been annoyed by those people.

Now he has the opportunity to get rid of those people and go to Yuzhou to open his eyes. He cannot ask for anything. He handed over the affairs to Mi Zhu, and he set out happily.

When he traveled southwest of Tan County, he soon entered Wuyuan County. The Tao merchants met. When he learned that the Tao merchant was going to see Sun Ce, Tao Ying felt a little uncomfortable, but he could not put it on his face. He also knew that Tao Qian's health was not good. Now that he asked Tao merchants to meet Sun Ce, he obviously wanted to support Tao merchants in succession. No matter how capable his second son was, he could not become Tao Qian's choice.

Tao Ying found an opportunity to chat with Jiang Gan in a private conversation and expressed his meaning tactfully. If Sun Ce could help him succeed to the throne, he would be willing to give the iron officers from the East China Sea to Sun Ce to manage and purchase all the weapons from Runan. As for the establishment of a naval base in Qu County, it is not a problem. As long as it is Sun Ce's ship, whether it is a warship or a merchant ship, it can be unobstructed in Xuzhou.

Jiang Gan understood it and agreed to convey it to Sun Ce.

After leaving Wuyuan, Tao Shang clearly felt Jiang Gan's attitude change, and immediately guessed what promise Tao Ying had given Jiang Gan or what gifts he gave. He asked around the bush, but Jiang Gan didn't say anything. He advised Tao Shang not to think too much. What is there in Xuzhou and Sun Ce did not? What benefits can Tao Ying give Sun Ce? You can't think so well, you are brothers, brothers and brothers are united, and their profits are cut off. If you suspect each other, who can believe you? General Sun opposes this kind of thing the most. He is the eldest son like you, but he never doubts his younger brother.

The Tao merchant was skeptical, but he heard two meanings from it: First, as the eldest son, Sun Ce would be emotionally biased towards him, which is his advantage; second, Sun Ce was very strong and could not be moved by any simple conditions. To obtain his support, he had to give him a generous gift, preferably he needed it but did not have it, and Xuzhou had it.

The Tao merchant secretly calculated what was there in Xuzhou, but Sun Ce did not, but what Sun Ce needed very much? After thinking about it, he thought of two points:

One is the mountain. Mount Tai belongs to Yanzhou in name, but is closer to Xuzhou. Sun Ce wants to deal with Yuan Shao, occupying Mount Tai is very important for him, which is like a thorn piercing a thorn in Yuan Shao's throat. If he doesn't pull out the thorn, he will not be able to move south with peace of mind. Sun Ce obviously noticed this, so he sent Taishi Ci to Mount Tai to assist in attacking Yuan Xi. Now Taishi Ci is stationed in Rencheng and temporarily gives up control of Mount Tai, but sooner or later Sun Ce will arrange people to enter Mount Tai again.

First, the sea. Sun Ce built a naval army. The naval army needed a good port and a place to rest in the middle. Qu County is a very good choice. But Qu County alone is not enough. Qu County's population cannot support the logistical supply of the naval army. If it is transferred from Yuzhou, its power will cross Xuzhou. If the territory of Qu County is expanded and Sun Ce can farm in Qu County, the situation will be much better. With military farming, it will be necessary to station troops, which Tao Qian cannot agree. Therefore, in addition to the navy, Qu County only has the mi family's troops, which is naturally far from enough.

Tao Qian refused, but Tao Merchant could agree.

Leaving Wuyuan, the Tao merchant and Jiang Gan soon entered the Pei Kingdom territory. The Tao merchant quickly felt the difference between Yuzhou and Xuzhou. Although they had just experienced war, they could constantly see new tombs and women crying with their loved ones on the road, and occasionally encountered convoys or fleets loaded with coffins, but the people of Pei Kingdom were relatively calm, with pain in their crying, but there was no despair. When the coffin of the fallen soldiers passed by, many people would stop, stand and wait and see with a solemn expression.

The Tao merchant was very surprised. He asked Jiang Gan the reason for this. Jiang Gan said that General Sun was very generous to the deceased soldiers. Each person could receive 20,000 yuan of funeral expenses and reduce the taxes and labor service of the family. Underage children could also enjoy the treatment of free admission to county schools. Generally speaking, if one person died, General Sun would have to pay nearly 100,000 yuan of cost for this, which is equivalent to the property of a medium-sized family. Therefore, the lives of the deceased soldiers would not be greatly affected, but would receive some of the previous unpreferred treatments.

The pottery merchant was very surprised. In this battle, Sun Ce lost nearly 10,000 soldiers, and Sun Ce had to pay one billion yuan for this one alone. Where did he get so much money? The total income of Jingzhou, Yangzhou and Yuzhou may be about one billion yuan per year. Excluding the salaries of officials and the expenses of various public projects, each of which can save 300 million yuan.

In other words, after Sun Ce fought this battle, he occupied several counties such as Rencheng, but he had to waste the reserves of the three prefectures he occupied in the past three years?

Jiang Gan affirmed Tao Shang's analysis. The battle was originally a burning money. Sun Ce needed to pay more than one billion this time. He estimated that the total losses would exceed two billion. He was not sure how Sun Ce filled this gap, but he knew that some losses could not be compensated even if he had money. For example, Sun Ce lost a large amount of war horses this time, and it is hard to say whether he could be supplemented in time. He rushed back to Pingyu, but received Sun Ce's order. Sun Ce asked him to rush to Liaodong, Bingzhou and Liangzhou to discuss the matter of buying horses with Gongsun Zan, Jia Xu, Han Sui, Ma Teng and others. At least four or five thousand war horses must be purchased to meet the requirements.

After hearing this, the pottery almost fell to the ground. The price of war horses is between 20,000 and 30,000 and 100,000, and the total price is between 20,000 and 5,000 horses, and the total price is between 200,000 and 300 million yuan. Does Sun Ce have so much money?

"Of course I won't buy it all with money. Bartering is the most feasible method. Arms, salt and grain are all bulk." Jiang Gan sighed. "Shao Junhou, General Sun is also very expensive now. I can't say how much supplies he can support you now. You'd better be a little mentally prepared. It's not that he refuses, he's really powerless."

Tao Shang's heart moved. Tao Qian listened to the suggestions of Wang Lang and others and insisted on paying tribute to the court. The court was grateful for his kindness. Not long ago, he just named Tao Qian the Marquis of Liyang. He was the eldest son and naturally the heir of the marquis, but the situation in front of him was complicated, so it is hard to say who could become the heir. Jiang Gan called him the Marquis of Shaojun, which can be regarded as a politeness or a hint, implying that Sun Ce would support him.

"Brother Ziyi, Xuzhou and Yuzhou are dependent on each other. If General Sun has any difficulties and needs Xuzhou's help, I have no choice but to define it."

Seeing that the Taoist merchant changed his name, Jiang Gan smiled calmly.
Chapter completed!