When Jiang Gan was in Tan County, he met with the pottery merchants and conveyed Tao Qian's opinion.

The potter's pressure during this period was also very high, with Liu He pressing step by step on the outside, and the entanglement of the Donghai family inside, which made him dare not relax in the slightest. With the help of Sun Ce, he controlled the Donghai family in time, but this did not mean the end, almost every day there were lobbyists coming to the door, puffing up their lips and shaking their tongues, using both soft and hard, coercion and temptation, asking him to release those family owners. If it weren't for Elk Zhu blocking him, he would have been annoyed by those people.

Now that he has the opportunity to get rid of those people and go to Yuzhou to open his eyes, he can't ask for it. Leave the affairs to Lu Zhu, and he set off happily.

Traveling southwest from Tan County, he soon entered Wuyuan County, and the potter brothers met. Knowing that the pottery merchant was going to see Sun Ce, Tao Ying felt a little uncomfortable in his heart, but he couldn't put it on his face. He also knew the news of Tao Qian's poor health, and now let the pottery merchant go to see Sun Ce, obviously with the intention of supporting the pottery merchant to succeed to the throne, no matter how capable his second son is, he can't become Tao Qian's choice.

Tao Ying found an opportunity to have a private chat with Jiang Gan, and euphemistically expressed his intentions, if Sun Ce could help him succeed to the throne, he was willing to give Sun Ce the iron official of the East China Sea to manage, and purchase all the ordnance from Runan. As for the establishment of a naval base in Qu County, as long as it is Sun Ce's ship, whether it is a warship or a merchant ship, it can be unimpeded in Xuzhou.

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

Leaving Wuyuan, the pottery merchant obviously felt the change in Jiang Gan's attitude, and immediately guessed what promise Tao Ying gave Jiang Gan, or what gift he gave. He inquired around the corner, but Jiang Gan didn't show his tone at all, and in turn persuaded the potter not to think too much. What is there in Xuzhou and not in Sun Ce? What benefits can Tao Ying give Sun Ce? You don't think like this, you are brothers, brothers are of the same heart, their profits are gold, if you are suspicious of each other, who will dare to believe you? General Sun is most against this kind of thing, he is the eldest son like you, but he never doubts his younger brother.

The potter will be skeptical, but he hears two meanings from it: first, Sun Ce, as the eldest son, will be emotionally biased towards him, which is his advantage; Second, Sun Ce's strength is very strong, it is not a simple condition that can make him tempted, to get his support, you must give him a generous gift, preferably if he urgently needs it, but Xuzhou has it.

The potter secretly calculated, what is there in Xuzhou and Sun Ce not, but Sun Ce needs it very much? After thinking about it, he thought of two things:

One is the mountain. Mount Tai nominally belongs to Yanzhou, but is closer to Xuzhou. Sun Ce wants to deal with Yuan Shao, and occupying Mount Tai is very important to him, it is like stabbing a thorn in Yuan Shao's throat. Without pulling out this thorn, he will not be able to go south with peace of mind. Sun Ce obviously noticed this as well, so he sent Tai Shi Ci to Mount Tai to assist in the attack on Yuan Xi. Now Tai Shi Ci is stationed in Rencheng and has temporarily given up control of Mount Tai, but sooner or later Sun Ce will arrange for people to enter Mount Tai again.

One is the sea. Sun Ce has a sailor, and the sailor needs a good harbor and a place to rest halfway, and Qu County is a very good choice. But only Qu County is not enough, the population of Qu County cannot support the logistics supply of the water division, if it is transferred from Yuzhou, and the force will have to cross Xuzhou. If the realm of Qu County is expanded, so that Sun Ce can be in Tuntian in Qu County, the situation will be much better. With Tuntian, there will be troops, which Tao Qian can't agree, so now in Qu County, in addition to the water division, there are only the elk family's troops, which is naturally far from enough.

Tao Qian didn't agree, but the potter could agree.

Leaving Wuyuan, the potters and Jiang Gan soon entered the realm of Peiguo. The potters soon felt the difference between Yuzhou and Xuzhou. Although they have just experienced the war, they can constantly see new graves and women crying for the loss of their relatives on the road, and occasionally encounter convoys or fleets full of coffins, but the people of Peiguo are relatively calm, there is pain in the cry, but there is no despair, when the coffins of the fallen soldiers pass by, many people will stop, stand and watch, with solemn expressions.

The potter was very strange, and he asked Jiang Gan the reason for this. Jiang Gan said that General Sun was very generous in dealing with the dead soldiers, and each person could get 20,000 yuan in funeral expenses, the family's service was exempted, and the minor children could also enjoy free admission to the county school. Roughly converted, if one person is killed, General Sun will have to pay a cost of nearly 100,000 yuan, which is equivalent to the property of a medium-sized family. Therefore, the lives of the families of the fallen soldiers will not be greatly affected, but they will be able to receive some preferential treatment that was not available before.

The potter was amazed. In this war, Sun Ce lost nearly 10,000 soldiers successively, and for this alone, Sun Ce had to pay one billion dollars. Where did he get all this money? Jingzhou, Yangzhou, and Yuzhou combined, the annual income may be about 1 billion yuan, excluding the officials' salaries and expenditures on various public works, each can save 300 million yuan, which is too much.

In other words, Sun Ce fought this battle and occupied several counties such as Rencheng, but he had to exhaust the savings of the three states he occupied for nearly three years?

Jiang Gan affirmed the potter's analysis. The campaign was originally a burning of money, and Sun Ce needed to pay more than one billion this time, he estimated that all the losses would add up to more than two billion. He didn't know how Sun Ce would fill this gap, but he knew that some losses could not be made up even if he had money. For example, Sun Ce lost a large number of war horses this time, and it is difficult to say whether he can be replenished in time. He hurried back to Pingyu, but he received an order from Sun Ce, who asked him to rush to Liaodong, Bingzhou, and Liangzhou to discuss the purchase of horses with Gongsun Zhan, Jia Xu, Han Sui, Ma Teng and others, and at least four or five thousand war horses must be purchased to meet the requirements.

The potter listened, and his jaw almost fell to the ground. The price of war horses is between twenty and thirty thousand to one hundred thousand, four or five thousand horses, and the total price is two to three hundred million, does Sun Ce have so much money?

"Of course, it will not be bought with money, bartering is the most feasible way, and armaments, salt, and grain are all large quantities." Jiang Gan sighed. "Young Junhou, General Sun is also spending a lot of money now, how many supplies he can support you, I can't say now, you had better be mentally prepared. It's not that he refuses, it's really powerless. ”

The potter's heart moved. Tao Qian listened to the advice of Wang Lang and others, insisted on paying tribute to the imperial court, and the imperial court repaid the favor, and not long ago named Tao Qian as the Marquis of Liyang. He is the eldest son, so he is naturally the heir of the marquis, but the current situation is complicated, and it is difficult to say who can become the heir. Jiang Gan called him the Young Marquis, which could be seen as a courtesy, or as a hint that Sun Ce would support him.

"Brother Ziyi, Xuzhou and Yuzhou depend on each other, if General Sun has any difficulties and needs Xuzhou's help, I can't give up my opinion."

Seeing that the potter had changed his name, Jiang Gan smiled impassively.