C232

"Since we are destined to be enemies and not friends, why does General Gongsun insist on inviting those three people?" Lv Bu watched as Guan Yu and the others disappeared around a bend in the road, and asked Gongsun Xu in bewilderment.

Gongsun Xu laughed but did not say a word. In truth, he did not have any deep meaning in inviting Guan Yu to the banquet, he purely wanted to meet these two generals who had left their names throughout history. This was one of the reasons why he had followed Lv Bu to Xiao Pei City. It was just that after seeing it once, Gongsun Xu was a little disappointed. Perhaps it was because Guan Yu and Zhang Fei had not experienced any of the battles that were written in the annals of history, but the two of them, whether it was in terms of their hearts or vision, were weaker than Jian Yong. They could only be considered outstanding generals who charged in battle, not a handsome person who could take charge of himself.

Lv Bu ordered everyone to return back and prepare a feast. At Gongsun Xu's request, he took the latter and strolled around Xiao Pei City. Not long after, Chen Gong also rushed over. After both parties greeted each other, Chen Gong, who was usually in charge of handling matters in the city, became the guide.

The current Xiao Pei City was completely different from her former glory. The city had a radius of less than twenty miles, the streets within the city were small and cramped, the citizens were dressed in shabby clothes, and bone scrawny people could be seen everywhere. Seeing this scene, Gongsun Xu couldn't help but think of the Changli County City. At that time, when he went to fix up Liu He's residence, the scene he saw was extremely similar to the one on the Xiao Pei's side. However, the current Changli County City had become one of the important strongholds where Gongsun Zanfuzi was hoarding sea salt. The city had been expanding nonstop over the years, and the population had grown several times more. The prosperity of the city was not inferior to that of the Ji County, it was something that the Xiao Pei County could not even compare to. In the city, there was only one building that could still be seen. It was the old residence of Gao Zu, Liu Peng. However, it only had a shiny surface, and it was already dilapidated.

Chen Gong was extremely zealous with government affairs, he had long known that the current Youzhou was extremely wealthy, and he also heard that the extremely profitable sea salt and fine steel were all produced by Gongsun Xu. Now that Gongsun Xu was in front of him, he completely let go of his reservations, and respectfully and seriously asked Gongsun Xu for guidance on the "Way of Governance".

Not only was Chen Gong interested in this question, even Lv Bu and Gao Shun pricked up their ears and stared at Gongsun Xu, wanting to hear how he made the Youzhou extremely rich in such a short period of time.

Gongsun Xu organized his thoughts, and talked while walking.

"No matter where in the world, there are two factors that make one rich. The first is industrial resources, and the second is population!"

Chen Gong asked after hearing this, "General, do the industry resources refer to wood, salt and iron and the like?"

"That's right!" Gongsun Xu nodded, and continued to speak. "The eastern side of Youzhou is facing the sea, so I have set up several large salt fields. Everyone here must have already seen the Youzhou's Qing Yan, what do you think?"

Lv Bu, Chen Gong and Gao Shun were praising each other, the price of the Youzhou's salt was low, but its quality was high. If not for the fact that there was no shop in the Xuzhou that specialized in selling Youzhou's salt, it would have easily squeezed out the salt from the sea that came from the south.

"Actually, refining sea salt isn't that difficult. If Wen Hou wants to, he might as well go to the sea salt farm in the future.

Gongsun Xu's words immediately caused Lv Bu's eyes to light up. The Japan was surrounded by the sea, if he could grasp the trick of refining sea salt, he would be able to build salt fields anywhere, and accumulate a huge amount of wealth as easily as flipping his palm. Furthermore, with tens of thousands of elite soldiers in his hands, he wouldn't need too much time to fully control the Japan. Chen Gong and Gao Shun had also thought of this, and they all looked at Gongsun Xu with fervent eyes, wishing that they could get the secret method to refine the Sea Salt from his mouth right now.

Gongsun Xu obviously could not talk about the secrets of Sea Salt Refining here, facing the earnest gazes of the few people, he quickly changed the topic: "So it means that for the development of industry, resources must be tailored according to the local conditions, if it is the Xiao Pei, they do not have enough resources, and they do not have enough arable land, it would be difficult to develop quickly! If it was in those peaceful days, there would be a way to try it. At this moment, even I don't have a good way! Mr. Gong Tai (Chen Gong), how many people are there in the Xiao Pei City? "

Chen Gong sighed: "Less than seven thousand!"

Gongsun Xu laughed and asked: Mr. Gong Tai, do you know how many families there are in the Ji County?

"I'm willing to listen to the details!"

Gongsun Xu arrogantly said a number that caused Lv Bu and Chen Gong to be incomparably shocked: "Seventy thousand! Not to mention the army and the blacksmiths, if not thousands more would come! "

Chen Gong exclaimed: "Why are there so many people in the Ji County? If that's the case, doesn't that mean that the Youzhou has a population of three to four million? "

"This number should be about the same! As for the source of the population, it's mainly to collect the refugees from all over the place. Just the refugees in the Central Region alone moved to the Youzhou, and there are already over three hundred thousand people there! " It was precisely because of his persistence that Gongsun Zan had agreed to gather a large number of refugees. Now, the population of the Youzhou was even more numerous than the Jizhou, Xuzhou and Yanzhou combined!

Lv Bu, Chen Gong and Gao Shun looked at each other, they could see the shock and rejoice in each other's eyes, if they chose to follow Liu Bei to the end, they would not even have a chance of winning!

Gongsun Xu started to narrate the details from the perspective of population and resources, nearly causing Lv Bu, Chen Gong and the other two to faint. When they arrived at the entrance of the county magistrate court, the three of them looked at Gongsun Xu with eyes full of respect. Lv Bu heaved a sigh of relief at this point. If he allowed Gongsun Xu to continue speaking, he suspected that his brain was made out of paste. He quickly invited Gongsun Xu into the county office, and voluntarily ended the conversation that gave him an incomparable headache.

Gongsun Xu told Hou Yong and the others to stay outside as he followed Lv Bu, Chen Gong and Gao Shun into the County Magistrate's Hall. As soon as they entered the hall, they could smell the rotten smell of wood. The furnishings inside were very old and dilapidated, if someone who did not know the inside information were to come in, they would probably think they had entered a run-down temple.

Gongsun Xu secretly shook his head when he saw this scene. He had never seen such an dilapidated yamen. However, Lv Bu was accustomed to this, and directly brought Gongsun Xu into the rear courtyard, into a similarly dilapidated courtyard.

Gongsun Xu looked around and realised that the flower pond that should have been filled with flowers was completely empty. The pond in the garden had also dried up long ago, revealing the dried up mud, giving off a pungent smell.

Lv Bu said embarrassedly: "This is my residence, I apologize to General Gongsun!"

"No worries!" Wen Hou, in such a simple and crude place, still continues to think of others as his subordinate, which is truly admirable, how can I be ridiculing you? " Gongsun Xu dismissed Lv Bu's awkwardness, then asked: "Oh yes, I have heard of General Zhang Liao's great name, why haven't I seen him today?"

Chen Gong replied: "Today is the day of xianzhen camp's drills, and General Gao usually takes charge of this matter. Because General Gao has always been by my side, today's drills are handled by him. Counting the time, the drills should have already ended. I will send someone to invite General Zhang here to pay my respects to General Gongsun. "

Gongsun Xu laughed: "Thank you, Mr. Gong Tai."

"Come on, let's talk inside!" Lv Bu looked at the dried up soil in the pond, frowned in disgust, and extended his hand to invite Gongsun Xu in to talk.

The group walked into the living room. Lv Bu respectfully invited Gongsun Xu to sit at the seat of honor while he, Chen Gong and Gao Shun accompanied him at the side. After the servants served tea, Lv Bu asked one of the maids to invite the family members over for a chat.

Chen Gong and Gao Shun were both trusted members of their own family, and would normally meet Lv Bu's family members as well.

Not long after, a ring of pendants could be heard from outside the living room. A graceful and rich lady wearing a pink palace dress walked in first. She was holding an eight to nine-year-old girl with a tranquil expression. The moment the little girl entered, she saw Lv Bu and immediately broke free from the beautiful woman's hands. She laughed loudly and threw herself into Lv Bu's embrace while calling out 'Daddy', then secretly glanced at the only stranger in the room, Gongsun Xu.

Lv Bu caressed the little girl's little head and introduced her to Gongsun Xu with a smile: "This is my beloved daughter, Ling'er. She is extremely mischievous.

Gongsun Xu smiled towards Lv Linger and praised: "Your daughter is intelligent, and has a good appearance. In the future, she will definitely become a famous lady!"

"Haha, General Gongsun is too kind!" Lv Bu modestly said, but his face had a pleased look to it. He lightly patted Lv Linger's back, pointed at Gongsun Xu, and instructed: "Hurry and thank this Uncle Gongsun for his praise!"

"Thank you, Uncle Gongsun!" Lv Linger very obediently bent his knee, looking as if he had gone through a round of etiquette training.

"Haha, what a cute little fellow! "Here, this is for you!" Gongsun Xu did not mind Lv Bu taking the chance to get closer to him. He smiled as he took down a jade pendant from his waist and handed it over.

"Thank you, Uncle Gongsun!" Lv Linger thanked her obediently once again, but she did not accept the jade pendant. Instead, she turned to look at the beautiful woman.

"Elder, I dare not refuse!" The woman spoke softly, her voice as clear as an oriole.

Only then did Lv Linger accept the jade pendant, and once again bowed to Gongsun Xu.

"This is?" Gongsun Xu had already guessed the identity of the beautiful woman, but he pretended not to know anything.

"This is my concubine, Diao Chan!" Lv Bu introduced her to Gongsun Xu with a smile.