"No!"
Liu Wei laughed and said, "Wen Yuan's troops are naturally meant for fighting, not for mining salt."
As he spoke, he looked at the map.
Following Liu Wei's gaze, Zhang Liao saw the area where the Shaanxi Plateau and the Mu Us Desert meet in the northern part of the Guanzhong Plain.
"Your Highness, I've heard that this place is a barren wasteland, inhabited by the Qiang people."
"If Your Highness wants this place, you might as well take Beidi County directly, seize that rich land at the foot of Helan Mountain, and cultivate it for farming."
Liu Wei chuckled: "Colonel Di has taken Zhangye and Juyan Lake, and now General Xue is preparing to take Jiuquan and Dunhuang in one fell swoop."
"If Ding Yuan finds out, he will definitely be furious and enraged."
“If we take Northland County again, he will fight us to the death.”
“It’s not that I’m afraid of him, but winter is here and the three prefectures of Hetao are in dire need of rebuilding. It’s not advisable to expand so much at this time.”
As he spoke, Liu Wei tapped a spot on the map heavily with his knuckles:
"However, here lies a salt mine that countless people around the world dream of, and it is the finest quality green salt."
"This salt is several times better than snow salt."
When Zhang Liao saw the purified snow salt, he dipped some in it and tasted it, and was immediately amazed by its extraordinary quality.
But Liu Wei said that the salt here is several times better than the snow salt in front of us. What does that mean?
He immediately looked at the spot where Liu Wei's finger had struck, and couldn't help but read it aloud:
"Qingyan Marsh!"
“That’s right, Wen Yuan. You lead your troops, and I will give you another 50,000 people and some grain.”
“Following the old Qin straight road south, we will occupy Dongsheng and build a city there, making it our bridgehead into Shangjun.”
Dongsheng, which is today's Dongsheng District of Ordos, is located east of Meiji, the former Shanyu royal court of the Southern Xiongnu.
Less than a hundred miles to the south lies Guluo City, the gathering place of the remnants of the Southern Xiongnu, including the old Guli King, as well as the remaining Xiongnu forces from Yunzhong, Shuofang, and Wuyuan.
"With Dongsheng as a fulcrum, we were able to wipe out the remaining Xiongnu forces and open up the passage to Qingyan Marsh."
"I intend to establish a distribution center for salt, coal, and iron ore in Dongsheng."
"Although our troops cannot march south for the time being, they cannot stop my salt, iron, and coal supplies from entering Guanzhong and the Central Plains!"
"Therefore, Wen Yuan, your expedition is of great significance."
Zhang Liao's expression hardened: "Your Highness, rest assured, the remaining forces of the Xiongnu are nothing to fear."
"I knew a little about the Qiang people there when I was working in the Bingzhou governor's office. Although they are numerous, their equipment and weapons are very crude and primitive. They are like little brothers in front of us!"
Liu Wei shook his head: "Any alien race that dares to challenge us, we will kill them all without hesitation."
"But I'm worried about Dong Zhuo's people. If they see us sending troops to Dongsheng, they might also take action!"
Zhang Liao asked in surprise, "Didn't the prince make an agreement with them to not interfere with each other? Would they really go back on their word and launch a sneak attack on us?"
"An agreement is something that should be based on the interests of both parties."
"Once the other party's interests are infringed, any agreement is just a piece of waste paper, and you won't even want to wipe your butt with it."
Liu Wei said casually, "If we send troops to Dongsheng, we will threaten Shangjun. Even if Dong Zhuo doesn't care, his men will instigate it."
Hua Xiong and Xu Rong were both warmongers, while the Four Great Generals Li Jue, Guo Si, Fan Chou, and Zhang Ji were even more fond of stirring up trouble.
There was also Li Ru, who was also a cunning and treacherous person.
When Yao Guangxiao went to Dong Zhuo's camp alone to reach an agreement, he also secretly bribed the greedy Li Ru.
However, times have changed. More than a month has passed, and Dong Zhuo has become the governor of Bingzhou as he wished, and has greatly expanded his army.
Liu Wei also gained control of the three counties of Hetao and regained his throne.
The two lived in peace for a month and achieved their respective goals.
But this relationship is very fragile.
Dong Zhuo started from Hedong with only three thousand men, but now his number has grown to fifty thousand. The speed of his expansion is astonishing.
The generals Hua Xiong and Li Jue scoffed at the agreement between Li Ru and Yao Guangxiao, but due to Dong Zhuo's approval and Li Ru's status, they only complained in private.
However, a month has passed, and who knows, they might start to have other ideas.
After all, besides the three counties of Hetao, there were many other places in Bingzhou that were not under Bingzhou's control.
Moreover, the territory was inhabited by Qiang, Xiongnu, and Di ethnic groups, making it impossible for Dong Zhuo's men to remain idle.
The appearance of Zhang Liao's troops in Dongsheng is very likely to attract an attack from Dong Zhuo.
"Your Highness, rest assured, with me, Zhang Wenyuan, here, even if Dong Zhuo comes with all his forces, I will absolutely not allow him to set foot in Dongsheng."
Zhang Liao naturally understood Liu Wei's implied meaning and immediately expressed his opinion.
"Yes, once Dong Zhuo sends troops, I will also send Li Su and Liu Du to reinforce them."
"At worst, we'll have a big fight with Fatty Dong!"
Liu Wei gave a cold laugh.
With his current strength, even if Dong Zhuo adopted Lü Bu as his son, he would not be a threat.
If it weren't for keeping Dong Zhuo around to nurture him, so that I could gain both fame and fortune when I marched into the Central Plains in the future;
If it weren't for the fact that Bingzhou was a buffer zone between the central plains and the central region, Liu Wei would have been able to kill Dong Zhuo a hundred times over when Dong Zhuo raised his army to attack Shanwu.
"Understood!"
Zhang Liao bowed respectfully, then asked, "Your Highness, should we ask the strategist for those 50,000 people?"
He knew that Yao Guangxiao was now in charge of city construction and road building, and was in charge of managing a population of 150,000 to 160,000.
"Hehe, there's no need to poach the strategist's men. On the day you set off for Dongsheng, 50,000 people carrying ten days' worth of provisions will report to the Yellow River ferry."
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