"I also thought about going by sea, but the sea was too bumpy, and when there were winds and waves, the boat would sway, lest the horses be dizzy on board." Zhang Yan also said what he was embarrassed about.

Mi Zhu said: "It turns out that the lord is worried about this. I have a close friend who often buys horses raised by Wuhuan people from Youzhou, and then transports them to Qingzhou, Xuzhou, Yangzhou and other places by sea. When Tao Yuanjun was alive, he mostly purchased horses from him. After Gongsun Chan attacked and killed Liu Yu, he wantonly developed cavalry and strictly forbade the sale of horses. The lord has already formed an alliance with Gongsun Zhan, and if the lord comes forward to purchase horses from Gongsun Zhan, Gongsun Chan should give the lord some face. ”

When Zhang Yan heard Mi Zhu say this, he also planned to go to Youzhou by sea to buy a batch of war horses, so he said to Mi Zhu: "Where is your best friend now?" ”

Mi Zhu said: "His family lives in Haixi, and now people should be in Haixi's hometown." ”

Zhang Yan then asked Mi Zhu to write a letter, and then asked Mi Zhu to give the letter to his close friend, who acted as Zhang Yan's messenger, and with this letter, crossed the sea to Youzhou, found Gongsun Zhan, and asked the two sides to start trade.

For this reason, Zhang Yan also deliberately let Mi Zhu take away the steel sword and steel armor made by the smelter, along with the refined salt he ate, and let his best friend take it to Youzhou and hand it over to Gongsun Zhan, preparing to use salt and iron, two distinctive things, to trade with Gongsun Zhan, and he exported refined salt and steel to Youzhou. It is hoped that Gongsun Chan will export war horses from Youzhou. In order to achieve mutual benefit.

Mi Zhu carries letters. as well as steel swords, steel armor and refined salt, etc., he quickly left Pengcheng and went to Haixi to find his best friend in person.

Within the jurisdiction of Zhang Yan, Qingzhou and Xuzhou are rich in salt, and the process of salt production is also very superb, and in some places, it has been able to produce edible refined salt. These refined salts are a thousand times better than ordinary coarse salts.

Salt is an indispensable thing for the human body, and salt intake has become a part of daily life. You can go three days without food, but you can't go three days without salt. Because of this, salt is of great importance.

Youzhou is located in the north, although there are also places close to the sea, but its salt production technology is far less than Qingzhou, Xuzhou.

When Dong Zhuo was in power, Sun Du, the Taishou Gongdu of Liaodong, once sent troops across the sea to invade Qingzhou, captured several counties in Donglai County, and set up Yingzhou there. The local people were forced to make salt on a large scale and then transported it back to Liaodong. Thus. The importance of salt.

Xuzhou is also rich in iron ore resources, Zhang Yan even used iron ore for smelting, and then smelted into steel to create sharp weapons and hard armor, these things are incomparable to Youzhou. Moreover, Youzhou is ostensibly under the rule of Gongsun Zhan, but in fact it is constantly undercurrent.

Since taking office, Sun Du, the Taishou of Liaodong, has strictly implemented strict punishment and strict laws, cracked down on the strong and strong, recruited troops, and trained the army, so that the order and administration were clear, and the wings were gradually full. In the first year of the first peace, Dong Zhuo in the Central Plains was in turmoil, and the warlords from all over the country had no time to look eastward, and Gongsun Du took the opportunity to establish himself as the Marquis of Liaodong and the pastor of Pingzhou.

Then, Gongsun Du led his troops to attack Goguryeo in the east, attacked Wuhuan in the west, took the Liaodong Peninsula in the south, and crossed the sea to take Donglai Zhuxian in the north of the Jiaodong Peninsula, and expanded the territory; He also recruited talents, set up a museum to open a school, recruited displaced people, and traveled overseas, as if he was the king of Liaodong.

Due to the remoteness of Liaodong and the fact that the road is not easy to walk, Liu Yu, the pastor of Youzhou, is just appeasing his heart, and Gongsun Du is still obedient on the surface.

But since Gongsun Chan killed Liu Yu and served as the pastor of Youzhou, Gongsun Du decisively broke with Gongsun Chan and dominated Liaodong.

In addition, Liu Yu's old department has been absconding, thinking about revenge for Liu Yu all the time. And Yuan Shao of Jizhou was eyeing him again, eager to swallow Gongsun Zhan in one bite.

Therefore, although Gongsun Chan has Youzhou, it is also an internal and external trouble.

Zhang Yan took the initiative to send someone to negotiate with Gongsun Chan this time, and with sharp weapons, strong armor, and refined salt, I believe that he will be able to knock on the door of Gongsun Chan's trade, so that the horses in the Youzhou area will be transported to Xuzhou by sea.

After sending Mi Zhu away, Zhang Yan promulgated the rectified tax law.

After the promulgation of the decree, it immediately caused an uproar in Xuzhou, and many local heroes complained bitterly, colluded with each other, and discussed countermeasures.

But there are also some local heroes who abide by the law and accept Zhang Yan's new decree, and even Mi Zhu, the richest man in Xuzhou, openly supports the new decree, what else do the rest of the people have to say?

Within a few days, the powerful and powerful everywhere were polarized, with one faction accepting the new decree and the other faction unwilling to endure this so-called "exploitation" and colluding with each other to plot a rebellion.

When he learned that these local heroes were preparing to gather a crowd to rebel three days later, Zhang Yan made a decisive move, dispatched a number of troops, rushed to various places, and first attacked the strong, arrested all the local heroes who were unwilling to obey, and then raided their homes and confiscated all the assets under their names!

Zhang Yan also gave this operation a code name, called Operation Thunder.

The thunder operation was dominated by Tai Shici, and the Taishou and county orders of various counties cooperated, and in just one day, all these disobedient heroes and bullies were caught.

After that, Zhang Yan asked Tai Shici and others to behead all the heroes and bullies on the spot in the name of rebellion.

There are a total of 16 families who were killed by the whole clan, and these 16 families are usually local tyrants, and they have done no less things to bully men and women, and there are also violations of law and discipline everywhere. Moreover, the rebellion was also jointly initiated by these sixteen families, which is regarded as the first evil.

However, Zhang Yan adopted a policy of gentleness towards those who were bewitched by these sixteen families, and only intimidated them and released them.

Zhang Yan killed sixteen powerful families in one go, totaling more than 500 people. As soon as it spread. The whole of Xuzhou was extremely shocked. Such a tough approach. Let everyone in Xuzhou be in danger, and they have sent people to Pengcheng with gifts to express their support for the new decree.

The new decrees must be implemented not only in Xuzhou, but also within the scope of Zhang Yan's shili, and these decrees must be followed.

For a while, when the powerful and bullies in other places heard about Zhang Yan's methods in Xuzhou, they were extremely jealous and did not dare to disobey again. I'm afraid that I will be beheaded all over the house.

After the promulgation of the new law, it was bad news for the local tyrants and bullies, but for the general public, it was indeed a blessing, and the tax rate levied was relatively low, the most important thing was the exemption of the poll tax, so to speak, this is a new breakthrough.

Luo Jun, the minister of Chen, was ordered by Liu Chong, the king of Chen, to personally follow Xu Chu to Pengcheng. After hearing about such a thing along the way, he was also convinced by Zhang Yan's resolute behavior.

Zhang Yan heard that Luo Jun had arrived in Pengcheng with Xu Chu. He led the crowd to greet each other outside the city, and after a greeting, Zhang Yan invited Luo Jun into the burden, ordered someone to prepare thin wine, and feasted Luo Jun.

At the banquet, after three rounds of wine, Luo Jun straightforwardly explained his intention to Zhang Yan.

It turned out that Luo Jun came to seek refuge this time, Chen Wang Liu Chong, a vassal king of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and the son of Liu Cheng, the fourth great-grandson of Chen Jingwang Liu Xian, the son of Emperor Ming of the Han Dynasty.

According to the intelligence, Chen Wang Liu Pet is fierce and brave, and he is good at using bows and crossbows. During the Yellow Turban Uprising, Liu Chong organized the army to defend himself, and the people were afraid of him and did not dare to defect. And Chen Guoxiang Luo Jun has always had prestige and kindness, and has always done his best to assist Chen Wang Liu Pet.

In the later period of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the king and the marquis no longer had the rent and endowment, but were often plundered and plundered, only the Chen country was rich and strong, and the people of the neighboring counties came to attach, with more than 100,000 people.

When the rebels fought against Dong Zhuo, Liu Chong led the army to garrison in Yangxia, claiming to be the general of the Auxiliary Han Dynasty, and once fought side by side with Sun Jian.

Then the Central Plains turmoil, Liu Pet in order to protect himself, often left and right, because of this, this Eastern Han Dynasty vassal king, can continue to this day.

Therefore, this time Luo Jun came to take the initiative to seek refuge.

In the past, Cao Cao was in Yanzhou, and Liu Pet was attached to Cao Cao, but since Cao Cao was driven away, with the gradual rise of Zhang Yan, Liu Pet also felt threatened and took the initiative to send Luo Jun to attach.

Moreover, not long ago, Yuan Shu, who was in Huainan, sent a large army to break into the Runan boundary of Yuzhou and capture Runan, and the Yellow Turban remnants in Runan were even more vying to join him. When he was crusading against Dong Zhuo, Yuan Shu led his army to pass by Chen Guo and borrowed grain from Liu Chong, but Liu Chong was also short of food at that time and did not lend it to Yuan Shu. Yuan Shu held a grudge because of this, so Liu Chong was worried that Yuan Shu would retaliate against him, so he had to find a strong backer.

Zhang Yan, who rose from the army, happened to become Liu Chong's backer.

According to Luo Jun's relay, Liu Chong was willing to deploy for Zhang Yan and accept a unified order to carry out the orders issued by Zhang Yan, but there was one premise, that is, he must maintain his status as King Chen and still enjoy the privileges of the imperial family.

Zhang Yan is very interested in Liu Pet, who took the initiative to belong to him, the decline of the Han Dynasty, along with the decline of the clan, if the Guangwu Emperor Liu Xiuquan knows, how can it be embarrassing.

However, at this stage, if Chen Wang Liu Pet does not come to rely on him, who else can he rely on?

So, Zhang Yan decisively agreed to Liu Pet's request.

Coincidentally, Zhang Yan and the others were still drinking happily in the hall here, and they heard someone come to report that King Liang and King Pei had sent envoys respectively.

King Liang and King Chen, like King Chen, are the descendants of the king of the Eastern Han Dynasty Emperor Ming, and they are also considered to be some relatives, but King Pei is different, King Pei is the fief of Emperor Guangwu Emperor Liu Xiu of the Eastern Han Dynasty to his son, so in terms of status, it is slightly higher than King Liang and King Chen.

However, from generation to generation, all the princes and kings are the same, and they are all relatively incompetent, but Chen Wang Liu Pet still has some ability.

Zhang Yan asked all the envoys of King Liang and King Pei to come to the hall, and after asking the reason for the reason, he learned that King Liang and King Pei also asked to come and attach. And King Liang also had a request, hoping to send a talented person to serve as the minister of state.

Zhang Yan was happy, and decisively agreed to the envoy's request, asked the envoy to sit in the hall together, and introduced Luo Jun to them. When the envoys of the three vassal kings saw each other, they all sighed.

The three vassal kings came to attach themselves one after another, which meant that Zhang Yan could justifiably intervene in the management of the three feudal states of Chen, Liang, and Pei in Yuzhou.

So, Zhang Yan asked Chen Qi to serve as the minister of Pei Guo, and also served as the minister of Liang State, and entrusted Chen Qi with all the important tasks of governing Yuzhou.

Chen Jue felt powerless, so he recommended his cousin Chen Yu to be the minister of Liang. And hope that Zhang Yan can build schools within the scope of his jurisdiction, open up his views, and act as a meritocrat.

Zhang Yan agreed to Chen Jue's suggestion one after another, and began to let the counties and counties establish schools, hire well-educated people, come to the schools to teach and educate people, and stipulated that all counties and counties in the territory can be enrolled as long as they are at least six years old, and both men and women can enter the school to study, and as for the monthly salary of the teacher, the government will bear it. In other words, school is free. (To be continued......)