Chapter 55: Billions of Dollars
Black Bear and Blue-clothed Zhen Mi left together, followed by five white-robed armored soldiers holding spears.

Pang Tong, Zhuge Liang, and Xu Shu stood side by side, while Xi Zhen and Ma Liang stood to the side and behind them respectively.

The five people looked down from a high place and saw that in an uninhabited place on the mountain road, the White Goose Commander was climbing the stone wall with nimble fists and feet, picking orchids on the cliff for the woman in green.

Orchids are inserted in the hair of the girl in green, and they are playing with each other, just like a scholar taking his maid on an outing.

The five white-robed soldiers were on guard everywhere. The leader of the soldiers holding a double-edged halberd seemed to have noticed them and turned his head to look from time to time.

The bushes and grass in front of Pang Tong and others roughly covered the area below the waist, but not the upper body.

After watching the other party turn around the mountain ridge and disappear, Pang Tong asked: "Yuan Zhi, this Bai E Qu commander has more than a hundred fine horses, and he is colluding with Gan Xingba, and his ambitions are not small. Will Liu Yuzhou condone him?"

"Shi Yuan, the resentment in this man's words is absolutely not false."

Xu Shu had no expression on his face. They were classmates and friends who knew each other well. He said directly, "He and Yuan Shang have a tacit understanding, which is not ordinary."

Pang Tong understood that even if Yuan Shang issued a call to attack and rebuke the black bear, it might just be superficial.

As Black Bear said, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

He defected to Hebei and came to help Liu Yuzhou. His purpose was just to delay Cao Cao's pace.

Instead of admiring Yuan and Liu Yuzhou, it was purely for the purpose of leveraging their strength.

Yuan Shang was naturally happy to see such a person who was actively against Cao alive.

There are only a hundred or so horses. With the current horse prices in Jingzhou, the appearance of so many at once will impact the market. Although the price will drop, they can still be sold for at least 70 or 80 million yuan!
The equipment, ships, and troops, if converted into money, would definitely be over 100 million.

Even Liu Biao would hesitate for a moment when faced with such a huge windfall, let alone others.

It was not that Pang Tong doubted Liu Bei, but that Liu Bei was living a tight life and did not receive any real support from Liu Biao, so it was normal for him to take a bite of the fat meat that was delivered to his door.

Xu Shu knew what Pang Tong was thinking. Pang Tong was the leader of the native scholars in Lumen Mountain, while Zhuge Liang was the leader of scholars from other states.

In terms of their respective backgrounds, Pang Tong and his gang had richer families and a better sense of changes in wealth; the scholars from other states only wanted to make a living here, and few of them devoted themselves to developing their own industries.

Ma Liang and his brothers were from Xiangyang, but they were still classified as scholars from other states.

The reason was that several decades ago, a man named Ma from Maoling came to be the prefect of Nanjun. At that time, the court was unstable and there was a rebellion by the Eastern Qiang in Guanzhong, so he left a branch to develop in Xiangyang.

By the time of Ma Liang, he was only the second generation, and he still had not been able to integrate into the embrace of the scholars in Xiangyang and Nanjun.

Xu Shu didn't want to discuss this issue in depth, so he turned his head to look at Zhuge Liang's profile and asked, "What does Kong Ming think?"

"This man is extremely rude and arrogant. He just left after touring Lumen Mountain. This shows that he doesn't want to make friends with us, and also means that he has no intention of staying in Jingxiang for a long time."

Zhuge Liang said firmly: "It seems that what he said is true. His family was indeed destroyed by the evil law of wrong labor."

After Cao Cao annexed Jingzhou, no one in Lumen Mountain would be persecuted by the law of wrongful labor.

It’s not that Cao Cao is kind, but that this is his privilege and the rules.

Even if a poor boy with a broken family under the wrongful conscription system is resolute and brave, how far can he go in the future?
How can the reputation of Bai E Shuai compare to that of Jin Fan Shuai back then?

Look at Gan Ning. He has been keeping his head down in Jingzhou for all these years and can’t even become a county magistrate.
For the scholars of Lumen Mountain, being a county magistrate or county magistrate was merely the starting point for their official career.

Zhuge Liang didn't care who would swallow up Black Bear's team. What he cared about was the irreconcilable hatred between Black Bear and Cao Cao.

At the other end, the black bear led Zhen Mi back to the boat.

Raising the sail, Black Bear looked at the Lumen Mountain that was gradually receding into the distance and suddenly sighed: "The gap between people is as big as the gap between bamboo and rice."

Zhen Mi, who was leaning on the railing and looking at the river, turned around and asked, "Why do you say that, my dear?"

"In my opinion, although Lumenshan is a talented man, he is far inferior to you, my dear."

She still looked down on many people as always. The rich looked down on the poor, the poor looked down on the common people, the common people looked down on the slaves, and the slaves looked down on the barbarians.

Now, even the wealthy families she once belonged to look down upon.

"I am not feeling sad about my origins, but about the people of Lumen Mountain."

Black Bear raised his hand to take off the mask, then looked down at the Sanxingdui-style mask and smiled: "They know very well that Jingzhou is now bound. Without external intervention, it is difficult to free their fists and feet. In addition to their fists and feet, the minds of most officials and citizens are also bound."

A giant from Jingzhou with a strong fighting spirit and nimble hands and feet, someone whom Cao Cao also needs to serve and appease carefully.

But now, most people in Jingzhou are satisfied with the present and are blindly optimistic about the future.

Unless the radicals in Jingzhou start a civil war, they can only allow the larger number of surrenderists to drag everyone into the water.

Zhen Mi was a little confused when she heard this. She didn't even understand what happened in Hebei. Why did Yuan Shang and Yuan Tan suddenly become so cruel?

She always felt that things were not that bad and there was still a lot of room for struggle and resistance.

After thinking for a while, Zhen Mi asked, "My dear, is Cao Mengde really that strong?"

"He relied on the righteousness of the imperial court to kidnap three to four million people from the Central Plains. He is not strong, but what is strong is the righteousness of the imperial court. He is just bad enough."

Black Bear smiled and said, "With the system of wrong service, he is regarded by the people as a capable minister in a peaceful time and a treacherous hero in a chaotic time; without the system of wrong service, he will die and his clan will be destroyed. The people of Hebei are unreliable, the people of Jingzhou are unreliable, and Sun Quan is even more unreliable. I have to do it myself."

"Let's not talk about this any more. It's getting dark and there are more mosquitoes. Let's go back to the cabin."

Upon hearing the sound, Zhen Mi lowered her head and went into the bird room, then went back to the cabin along the wooden ladder to rest.

The road to and from Lumen Mountain was so mountainous that her legs and feet felt tired and she was sweating a lot.

Black Bear said to the bow: "Return to Zhuyang."

The captain was stunned: "Doesn't Commander Qu have an appointment with Young Master Liu?"

"It is the people of Jingzhou who need me, not me who need the people of Jingzhou. Besides, how much are a few hundred young men in Guanzhong worth?"

Black Bear asked back, and when he saw that the bow suddenly realized something, he smiled and returned to the cabin.

With more than a hundred horses, they can easily rob hundreds of young and strong men after passing through Wuguan Road.

But if he lost these horses, he would either have to fall out with the people of Jingzhou or start from scratch in Guanzhong, and the difficulty of starting a business would increase sharply.

More than a hundred fine horses are enough to tempt people to jump out and take a gamble.

Just bet that you dare not turn against me.

It’s just a pity that although I lack materials, I don’t want to think of meaningless conflicts.

As the sky gradually darkened, the transport ship was sailing against the current and gradually lost the power of the wind. The sailors in the cabin rowed and oared, and finally it slowly moved towards Zhuyang County.

Inside the cabin, a mosquito net was hung, and Black Bear was flipping through the bamboo calendar he had made. He had kidnapped the two Yuan brothers to Liyang on the 16th day of the fourth month, and had set sail that night. Now it was the 8th day of the fifth month, a total of 21 days had passed.

No black mana was consumed during this period, and it will be forty-nine points after midnight tonight.

Lu Bu is a senior-level Taoist soldier who has been strengthened four times. The fifth time requires sixteen points of black mana.

It took 15 points to strengthen the exclusive mount Yin Gan Junma twice, and 20 points are required for the third strengthening.

Another thirty-six points of black mana are needed to strengthen Lü Bu and Yin Gan's horse to the level of 'Riding God General'.

This is the limit of most black servants, but it is not the limit of Lu Bu's card material.

I have calculated before that it takes sixty-six points to strengthen a Cavalry General equipped with horse gear.

Only eleven bodies can be saved in a year, which is too luxurious. For now, it is enough to support one Lu Bu.

Fortunately, there is no additional expenditure cost for daily use, otherwise the route of rapid troop growth will fail halfway.

An ordinary leather-armored Taoist soldier only needs seven points of black mana, so a multiple-choice question is presented before us.

Should we get seven more leather-armored Taoist soldiers, or strengthen Lu Bu and improve his high-end combat power?

I have a vague idea that if I just refine a senior Taoist servant, the cost of one will be only three points of black mana.

Give him a washed face towel, a hat, a white robe, and a battle spear and he'll be done.

In this way, within a year, a spear battle formation of a hundred people can be accumulated.

No matter how elite and strong a cavalryman you are, as long as you dare to charge, this spear formation will set up a spear formation to meet you!
The spears are advancing together, how many teams can resist?
The most important thing in spear battle formation is discipline, and the requirements for personal martial arts are very low.

With unlimited physical strength, once you form a spear battle formation, you don't need any weapon fighting skills or explosive power, you can just push forward and fight hard.

Another thing is that after putting on the armor refined by white mana, you have to take it off every time you summon it and need physical labor, which is somewhat inconvenient.

I do need a large team of Taoist servants to facilitate the construction of various infrastructures and perform low-skilled repetitive labor.

If we go by quantity in the future, we can use senior Taoist servants as the main force.

But now, I will be meeting Liu Bei soon, so it is necessary to strengthen Lu Bu.

The events in Hebei can no longer be concealed. Even if Liu Biao and his son do not take action after learning about it, the big families in Jingzhou will still take action.

As his mind became clear, Black Bear thought of another point.

In fact, Yin Gan Junma can delay the strengthening and directly strengthen Lu Bu by two levels... Who knows, it can give Liu Biao or Liu Bei a big surprise at the critical moment.

Especially the Liu Bei group that has met Lu Bu!

Liu Biao started to establish a school last year. Among the more than 3,000 teachers and students, there are definitely many who know Lu Bu.

While thinking, Taoist soldier Lu Bu lowered his head and walked into the compartment.

It raised its hand and took off the bronze mask that was characteristic of Sanxingdui. The fastest way to make masks in Shenpei Manor was to use bronze casting techniques.

Black Bear had plenty of Wuzhu coins in his hand, and this mask was made by melting the Wuzhu coins.

Taking off the mask and lifting up the white gauze scarf, one could see a horrifying face with dry skin and flesh clinging to the facial bones.

Sixteen points of black magic power were invested in Lu Bu's chest, and his body collapsed in an instant. When he was summoned out again, the dried skin and muscles on the surface became fuller and thicker.

His face looked more like a living person, and even his sunken and shrunken nose stood up.

His eyes were open but the eye sockets were dark and there were no eyeballs.

Looking closely, there are eyeballs, but no whites. It is probably just for decoration.

After this enhancement, the Iron Cavalry-level Lu Bu will have subtle movements when sitting cross-legged on the ground, such as slightly tilting his ear when listening.

It is still unable to actively express its wishes and is still a machine-like intelligent being.

At midnight, two new black mana appeared, and Black Bear had thirty-three points in his hand. He immediately invested thirty-two points in Lu Bu.

When Lu Bu appeared again, his face was lifelike, with fine beard on his chin and temples.

But there was still no white in her eyes, as if she had been painted with thick black eye shadow.

I guess at this moment, the shriveled brain in Lu Bu's skull has become full again.

The commander tried, but Lu Bu still couldn't speak, not even a roar.

Without breathing and vocal cord vibration, where does the sound come from?
But it was enough. Having such a god-level general like Lu Bu by his side was enough to part ways peacefully with Liu Bei.

Liu Bei got the intelligence about Hebei. The other party was the Left General of Yuzhou in the imperial court, while he was a bandit and rebel Lieutenant of Henghai. The other party had a legitimate reason to annex him.

It is a just act, and all the experienced people in the world will only applaud when they hear it.

Why did Xu Shu want to let me know...

This may be to use the Lumen Mountain channel to convey a message to Liu Biao and see what Liu Biao would choose.

After Liu Biao made his choice, it was the turn of the big families in Jingzhou.

More than a hundred fine horses are worth their effort.

After going around in circles, I still couldn't get out peacefully.

Thinking about it, Black Bear got up, lit a stick of incense, hung up the mosquito net for Zhen Mi, went to the next cabin to put on his armor, put on his leather helmet and walked to the deck.

The northwest wind was blowing on the deck, and Black Bear squinted his eyes to observe the two banks.

I don’t know what Liu Qi will choose, but I have no chance to kidnap him tonight.

As for Gan Ning, if he really turned against him, who could stop Lu Bu, who was at the level of a cavalry god, from attacking with his halberd?

Back then, Lu Bu was able to scare Yuan Shao into closing Ye City. The Lu Bu in his hands is even stronger, and it is not an outlandish idea for him to surround Xiangyang City single-handedly.

There is also the issue of status when starting a business in Guanzhong.

Yuan Shang, Yuan Tan, Liu Biao, and Liu Bei all had the qualifications to endorse themselves, and Yuan Biao appointed themselves as a county magistrate, colonel, captain, or something like that.

But if they turn against each other completely, then Lu Bu's face will be very valuable!
Lü Bu surrounded Xiangyang alone and was recognized when he showed his face again.

Back then, Cao Cao hanged a fake Wenhou...what a big news.

(End of this chapter)