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Chapter 361

Chapter 361





 

“This is…!” Liu Mang and Lu Bu felt blinded by the sight before them . Liu Mang may not have seen much but Lu Bu have seen a lot of things before . One example was the amount of treasures such as gold and antiques, taken away by Dong Zhuo after he burned down Luoyang . Dong Zhuo even had soldiers to protect the carts of treasures . However, the sight in front of Lu Bu had caused him to stare blankly .

 

They had never expected there to be a secret room in Shouchun filled with mountains of gold .

 

“How is there this much money?” Everyone was stunned .

 

“There is probably several hundred thousand gold here!” Lu Bu quickly recovered . The one that have seen more piled up money in his life recovered faster .

 

“There is at least two hundred and twenty thousand gold!” Yang Hong gave everyone its figure . Having ten thousand gold was already enough for a rich and influential family to live off for hundreds of years . The amount here was enough for a nation to be considered rich . Even the nobles did not have this much . When the Han Emperor Ling was alive, he only had ten thousand gold . There was two hundred and twenty thousand here .

 

“Uncle Hong! Why is this here?” Liu Mang asked with a frown . Everyone loved money but Liu Mang wanted to know the origins of it .

 

“Master . This is left behind by the previous Lord . ” This person was Liu Mang’s other father-in-law, Yuan Shu . He was someone who lived well even though he only managed to declare himself Emperor for about ten days .





 

One third of the money was from plundering Yangzhou and Yuzhou . Half of it was given by the Yuan Family . The previous head Yuan Shi only had two successors which was Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu . Yuan Shao went to Jizhou and developed there . He did not return to the Central Plains . On the other hand, Yuan Shu returned to Yuzhou and prepared to invade Yangzhou . Yuan Shao may have been his older brother but Yuan Shao was conceived from a servant girl that his father had bedded when drunk . On the other hand, Yuan Shu was the son of the first wife . As a result, he received the support of the family and managed to take Yangzhou .

 

When Yuan Shu proclaimed himself Emperor, he was the ruler of the Central Plains . His territory ranged from Nanyang to Guangling . Yangzhou and Yuzhou in the North was able to launch a pincer attack on Cao Cao’s Yanzhou . Yuan Shu did not attack Jiangdong which was at his South but he had enough power to pacify Jiangdong . Liu Biao lived in the same time as Yuan Shu and could also be considered one of the rulers of the Central Plain .

 

There were two powerful alliances during that time . The first one was Yuan Shao with Cao Cao and Liu Biao . The second one was Yuan Shu with Tao Qian and Gongsun Zan . Unfortunately, Yuan Shu proclaiming to be Emperor caused him to lose popular support and was chased off by Sun Ce . Tao Qian and Gongsun Zan were also dead . He soon found himself isolated .

 

The wealth Yuan Shu left behind were those that he could not take away . If he wanted to take away all that money, he would need thousands of carriages . By doing that, he would also not be able to escape with his life . In the end, he simply told Yang Hong about this wealth before1 his death .

 

Yang Hong did not immediately give the money to Lu Bu at that time as Lu Bu did not have any territory . He once again thought of telling Lu Bu ones Lu Bu had obtained Wancheng but in the end, he did not .

 

There were two reasons for this . The first reason was that the situation for the Lu Bu’s Army at that time was not good . The nobles were revolting and Sun Ce was attacking . It was impossible to move the money . The other reason was if he were to tell them about the money, information would leak and provoke attacks . He was also unable to say anything when Liu Bei attacked as it would disrupt Liu Mang’s movements . It was only now when Liu Mang needed money that he said anything . Amongst their neighbours, Liu Bei had just been chased away and Cao Cao is too busy to pay attention to the Central Plains . It was the best time to make use of this money .

 

“Why did Gonglu not use this money when he had it?” Lu Bu did not understand . The money here was enough to expand the army, rebuild the walls and buy provisions . If Gongsun Zan was able to hold off Yuan Shu for a year at Hebei, Yuan Shu should have been able to hold back Cao Cao for several years .

 





“Marquis Wen . Milord thought of doing so as well but he did not dare to take out this money!” Yang Hong laughed bitterly and shook his head . It would have been great if it had been as simple as Lu Bu expected it to be . When Yuan Shu proclaimed himself Emperor, his reputation fell . The people from ancient times followed the Heaven-picked monarch . Yuan Shu’s actions could be classified as a revolt . As long as the people lived well, they did not dare to support Yuan Shu . Many of Yuan Shu’s generals such as Chen Lan and Deng Ren had also defected .

 

Even Sun Ce who once worked for Yuan Shu had cut off all relationship with him and even attacked him .

 


Yuan Shu may have been rich but he could not buy anything . Besides that, amongst his neighbors, only Liu Biao did not attack . Everybody else decided to attack him . Even Liu Bei who had nothing to do with Yuan Shu came to attack .

 

He had money but he could not buy provisions . He had troops but no generals . He even had deal with the revolts himself . Why would he dare to take out this money? Not only would he still be unable to attack . Instead, he would attract more enemies and traitors who want to take that money .

 

“With this money, we would be able to buy provisions!” Liu Mang was very excited . With this money, Liu Mang would be able to buy provisions and even expand the industrial zone . He would be able to move forward the project for weapon manufacturing . He would even be able to give another recruitment order and turn Yangzhou into a prosperous capital .

 

“Uncle Hong . This is a huge contribution . I will definitely request a title to be given to you . Xu Shu . Dispatch troops to the other states immediately and buy as much provisions as you can . I am willing to buy three to four times the normal price . ” Liu Mang’s vigor returned with this money, showing off the arrogance of a wealthy person .

 

“Yes, Milord!” Xu Shu nodded .

 

“Thank you, Family Head!” Yang Hong was indifferent to being given a title . What he wanted was for Yuan Shu’s daughter to be valued . This is to repay his previous Lord .





 

Liu Mang noticed this and then added, “Uncle Hong . I will still need to trouble you further . Go to Lujiang and call Ling Er, Fang Er and Yu Er over . I have not seen them for several months and miss them a lot!”

 

“Yes . I will immediately go and make preparations!” Yang Hong replied happily . Although Liu Mang had placed Yuan Fang after Lu Lingqi in importance, Yang Hong was not unhappy . After all, Yuan Fang was just a flat wife2 while Lu Lingqi was the real Queen .

 

Liu Mang truly had everything with his wives . There was Lu Bu’s barbaric daughter Lu Lingqi that was skilled in martial arts . Liu Mang was also unable to defeat her . She is normally disobedient and decided to come to Shouchun, causing the Wolf Cavalry to be ambushed and Zhang Fan to die . Fortunately, she has poor sense of direction and actually has not even left Lujiang . She got lost and had to ask for help at a local residence before being sent back to Wancheng . Lu Bu confined her in anger . If she had truly been caught by Liu Bei’s Army, Liu Mang would be at a lost .

 

His second wife was Yuan Fang . Yuan Fang did not contend for anything and was instead like a sister loved by the others . She was also very beautiful . However, Liu Mang and Yuan Fang had a political marriage . He was not particularly satisfied about this fact and became less concerned about her . This was why Yang Hong became happy when Liu Mang mentioned Yuan Fang .

 

Liu Mang’s third wife was Da Qiao, Qiaoyu . Qiaoyu married Liu Mang as a concubine but she was the real Queen Mother at home . She could comprehend everything . She knew that Liu Mang needed a quiet backyard when he fights at the frontlines . She was also older than Lu Lingqi and Yuan Fang . As a result, the other two also called her Elder Sister Qiaoyu . They listened to her and kept a harmonious relationship within the family .

 

“Father-in-law . The money from Lujiang is no longer needed . There is two hundred thousand gold here . You should take away fifty thousand with you!” Liu Mang said as he finally remembered about Lu Bu .

 

Lu Bu also blinked as he looked at Liu Mang and replied, “Just keep the fifty thousand gold in case . ” Lu Bu also knew that Yangzhou was a money sink . The tens of thousands of gold he had brought last time was finished within a month . It was reasonable as there were many things that needed to be done in Yangzhou . Besides that, Liu Mang had also made achievements with that money such as the improvements to the ballista, the catapults, the ships and the cement .

 

The cement could be used for the civilians and also for the city defences . Most of the city’s defences were made of wood and were easily burned by fire attacks . This is especially true for the naval bases . Once there is fire, it becomes difficult to put out . It would be much better once they used cement . Besides that, the materials were also more convenient to use . When it is not used, it is just a pile of powder . When it is used, it becomes a hard stone . It is easier to transport unlike limestone which comes in large blocks .

 

Carriages transporting the gold continued busily until dusk . Liu Mang looked bored . With a stern man like Gao Shun around, the officials would not ask for corrupted tax . Liu Mang went back to sleep with relief .

 

However, before Liu Mang could sleep, a messenger dispatched by Cheng Yu came with information . “Report! Milord, there are thousands of Xiliang Cavalry outside the city!”

 

“What?” Liu Mang sat back up . “Men . Bring me my armor!” Zhang Xiu was still alive . If the Xiliang Cavalry is here, it meant that they are here to attack Yangzhou .

 

_________

Raws actually says Yuan Shu told Yang Hong about the money AFTER his death which feels weird because
A) The dead can’t speak .
B) A will is likely to get read by someone else in charge, hidden away, and then money stolen .
If anyone knows a way to speak after death, please tell me .

 

Couldn’t find an English equivalent for this flat wife 平妻 . A flat wife is a legal wife that could fight for inheritance rights with the first wife unlike concubines but is lower in status . If I am not wrong, their male children have the same status as others .

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