The Three Kingdoms: I asked you to save Guan Yu, not to destroy Sun Quan.

Chapter 539 Liu Bei Receives News of Cao Cao's Death

Is Champa located in Funan?

Are we that close?

Liu Bei knew of the existence of Funan. His first mission for Mi Fang and Fu Shiren at sea was to find out about Funan. After Shi Xie arrived in Jiangling, he had several conversations with him and learned more about Funan from him. At least he knew that the current king of Funan was surnamed Fan.

But he never dreamed that Funan would possess such a treasure as Champa rice. If only he had known earlier…

Thinking of this, Liu Bei felt deflated. He knew it had nothing to do with him anyway, and taking it back would only benefit Sun Quan, since he had only recovered Jiangdong a few days ago.

Liu Bei said with a mixture of anticipation and trepidation, "I hope that Mi Fang and Fu Shiren can bring back Champa rice on their first voyage. If they do bring back Champa rice for me, I will pardon all their sins."

Guan Yu echoed, "If they are really brought back, I will forgive them for their betrayal and never bother them again."

The most important thing for the people of the Han Dynasty was to have enough to eat. When they were well-fed, the world was at peace; when they were not well-fed, the Yellow Turban Rebellion broke out.

Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhuge Liang had all experienced hunger and knew how much turmoil hunger could cause. Under such circumstances, how could they remain indifferent to the news of high-quality rice that could be harvested two or even three times a year?

If Champa rice could truly be harvested two or even three times a year as Guan Xing said, Liu Bei wouldn't trade it for 100,000 iron cavalry, because it was a peerless artifact that could fundamentally enrich and strengthen a dynasty.

Imagining the scene of mountains of grain, Liu Bei, like a gossipy woman, asked again, "Can Champa rice really be harvested two or three times a year?"

Guan Xing shook his head and said, "It depends on the place. Rice is a crop that can only grow in tropical climates and cannot be grown in the Central Plains. But it's not that absolute. Only a very few places in the Central Plains can grow it, and there is only one season a year."

"You should know that it gets colder the further north you go and hotter the further south you go. It snows in winter near the Yangtze River, but you hardly ever see snow in Jiaozhou. That's the perfect place to grow rice, or more precisely, Funan, the production area of ​​Champa rice."

At this point, Guan Xing got up and walked to the desk. He picked up a pen and casually drew a simple map on the paper, showing the route from Jiaozhou all the way to the coast. Then he pointed to the map and said, "The tentacles of the Han Dynasty reached Jiaozhou but were blocked by the Ten Thousand Mountains. No one knows what lies behind the Ten Thousand Mountains."

Liu Bei asked excitedly, "Do you know what lies behind the Ten Thousand Mountains?"

Guan Xing nodded and said, "Beyond the Ten Thousand Mountains lies a vast alluvial plain, which we later called the Mekong River Plain and the Chao Phraya River Plain. The Mekong River Plain covers an area of ​​about 300,000 square kilometers, roughly the size of the North China Plain. You should be familiar with the North China Plain, right? It almost covers the entire Central Plains and was Cao Cao's largest grain-producing area, as well as the source of his confidence in suppressing the surrounding areas."

Liu Bei, being from Zhuojun, naturally knew what the North China Plain was like. He excitedly rubbed his hands and said, "Plains are perfect for farming! Behind the Ten Thousand Mountains lies a vast plain the same size as the North China Plain?"

"Wait, what about the Chao Phraya River Plain? How big is the Chao Phraya River Plain?"

Guan Xing said, "The Chao Phraya River Plain covers an area of ​​about 150,000 square kilometers. The two combined do indeed exceed the North China Plain in terms of area. More importantly, that plain has a subtropical climate, and rice can be harvested three times a year. In addition, water resources are abundant. If it can be developed, Your Majesty can think about it yourself."

"But because of the barrier of the Ten Thousand Mountains, no subsequent dynasty was able to conquer this plain. By my time, this plain was divided up by five or six small countries, which were baring their teeth at the Central Plains dynasty every day."

Liu Bei's eyes lit up as he said, "If we can't cross the Ten Thousand Mountains, there's still the sea route, isn't there? This plain is mine. What right do these Funan people have to seize my farmland?"

Guan Xing continued, "By the way, besides Champa rice, Funan also has a treasure called cotton. You know cotton, right? It was introduced to the Central Plains from the south during the Qin and Han dynasties. The quilts we usually use are made of cotton."

"But the cotton coming from the south is too little and not enough at all. You know, the Central Plains are very cold. Every winter, countless people freeze to death. If there were enough cotton to keep warm, the number of people who freeze to death could be reduced by at least half."

"Moreover, cotton has many uses beyond just making quilts and cotton-padded clothes. It can also be used to weave cloth and sew clothes, to make medical cotton for stopping bleeding, to make gunpowder, which is the main material for many firearms in later generations, and even to make paper, and the best paper at that. The paper currency of later generations was made from cotton."

"These kings may not understand, but to put it simply, cotton is very valuable, extremely valuable. The more cotton you have, the more money you can make. As long as this stuff is brought back to the Central Plains, there will be no shortage of buyers."

Liu Bei suddenly turned around and looked in the direction of the Ten Thousand Mountains, his eyes gleaming even brighter.

Zhuge Liang calmly replied, "It's too early to talk about these things now. Let's get back to business. Where were we?"

Guan Xing returned to his seat, leaned back to find a comfortable position, and continued, "Speaking of the Song Dynasty's prosperity, its civil administration was unmatched. Its politics, economy, and culture all reached peaks that later generations could hardly reach. However, its martial arts were truly lacking. Not to mention the Khitan, even the weak Western Xia could beat them up."

"Originally, the Khitan were the biggest threat to the Song Dynasty, but the Khitan were corrupted by the Song Dynasty's constant sugar-coated bullets of sending money, grain and silk. They were corrupted by the Song Dynasty's money and lived in peace with the Song Dynasty for more than a hundred years."

Liu Bei and his three companions sighed again, unable to help but remark that it's good to be rich.

Guan Xing continued, "The Song Dynasty and the Khitan cooperated well, and if this continued, they could probably remain stable for another hundred years. But don't forget that the Khitan were semi-agricultural and semi-nomadic. There were other tribes on the grasslands. After the Khitan followed the Song Dynasty into decline for over a hundred years, a tribe in Liaodong called the Jurchens rebelled because they could no longer endure the long-term oppression of the Khitans."

"The Khitan had a million-strong army, while the Jurchen only had tens of thousands. By all accounts, this was just a small rebellion. But as mentioned before, the Khitan had been corrupted by the Song Dynasty and had begun to decline. Their knights could no longer mount horses or draw bows. The 800,000-strong army that was sent to quell the rebellion was actually defeated by 20,000 Jurchen cavalry."

"Hiss..." Liu Bei exclaimed in astonishment, "Eight hundred thousand can't defeat twenty thousand? Have the Khitans been corrupted that badly by the Song Dynasty's money offensive?"

Guan Xing said, "The Jurchens easily defeated the Liao Dynasty established by the Khitans, replaced the Khitans and established the Jin Dynasty. The resentment of the Song Dynasty, which had been bullied by the Khitans for more than a hundred years, also erupted. Together with the Jin Dynasty, they completely destroyed the Liao Dynasty and temporarily took back the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun."

"But the Song emperor at the time was too incompetent. He thought that the Jin Dynasty could be dealt with by money, just like the Khitan. The Jin Dynasty had just defeated the Khitan and was full of confidence. They decisively tore up the alliance and sent troops south. Not only did they easily seize the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun, but they also marched all the way to the Song Dynasty capital, Bianjing."

"Originally, the Jin Dynasty only intended to plunder the city and did not intend to do anything to the Song Dynasty. However, the emperor at the time was too incompetent. Instead of thinking about how to set up defenses when the Jin army besieged the city, he invited a shaman to perform a ritual on the city wall in an attempt to use magic to drive back the Jin army."

Liu Bei was utterly speechless. "What a joke! Did the emperors back then have donkey hair in their heads? If praying to gods was effective, what would be the point of having an army?"

Guan Xing spread his hands and said, "Who knows what the Song Emperor was thinking? While asking for divine intervention, he urgently passed the throne to his son and became the retired emperor, trying to shirk responsibility. As you can imagine, Bianjing was easily captured, and the emperor, princes, and empresses were all taken prisoner. Only one prince, Zhao Gou, who was not in the capital, escaped."

Liu Bei couldn't help but curse, "Serves him right! He gave up being a proper emperor to become a charlatan. He deserves this fate, but..."

boom……

Before he could finish speaking, the tent flap was violently kicked open, and Chen Dao, who was guarding outside, rushed in, his eyes glazed by the sunlight.

The people inside the tent instinctively closed their eyes due to the sunlight. Liu Bei shielded his eyes with his hand and said in surprise, "The sun is already out. Has a whole night passed so quickly?"

The tent had no windows, and it was pitch black, so they thought it was still midnight. They didn't realize that the sun was already high in the sky.

Chen Dao, disregarding the condition of the people inside the tent, rushed in and, before even regaining his footing, said with a complicated expression, "Your Majesty, news has just arrived from Luoyang: Cao Cao... has passed away..."