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

Chapter 621 Demanding Debt from Lü Dai

Lü Dai headed south while Mi Fang headed north, and the two sides soon met in a village called Songlang on the border between Linyi and Funan.

Mi Fang led the group forward and bowed to Lü Dai, saying, "Your humble servant Mi Fang greets Prefect Lü. I have successfully captured Shi Hui and have fulfilled my mission. Please advise on how to deal with him."

Lü Dai helped Mi Fang up and said, "I have also captured King Fan Shiman of Funan, but Shi Hui and Fan Shiman are both wanted criminals. We, as subjects, have no right to deal with them. They must be escorted to Jiangling and handed over to His Majesty for decision."

That's a bit of an understatement. As the governor of Jiaozhou and the commander-in-chief in suppressing the rebellion, Lü Dai had the authority to act expediently. Even if he killed two people, the court wouldn't say anything, but...

Shi Hui and Fan Shiman were the sons of three dukes and the king of Funan, respectively. It would have been fine to deal with them expediently when the battle was at its most intense. However, it would have been excessive to act expediently after they had been captured and the overall situation was under complete control. This would inevitably have drawn criticism. Lü Dai was an experienced and shrewd man and would not have dug such a pit for himself. Therefore, it was better to escort them back to Jiangling and hand them over to Liu Bei.

After arranging this matter, Lü Dai changed the subject, stroked his beard and smiled, "Although Shi Hui and Fan Shiman have been captured, I am somewhat unwilling to go back now that I have come all this way. After all, I have already come, so I want to continue the expedition and lead the army to the capital of Funan to completely destroy Funan. What do you think, General Mi and King Qu?"

While asking the question, Lü Dai looked at Qu Lian instead of Mi Fang, clearly indicating that he needed something from him.

Qu Lian hurriedly asked, "If there is anything you need, please feel free to give your orders, and I will certainly do as you say."

He didn't want Lü Dai to continue attacking Funan; he just wanted Lü Dai to get out of there as soon as possible. The reason was simple: once Funan was destroyed, it would be Linyi's turn. It was a matter of mutual dependence.

But he dared not refuse, fearing that if he did, Lü Dai would be furious and wipe out their Linyi. He couldn't withstand Lü Dai's military might, and more importantly, if a real fight broke out, his good son-in-law would most likely side with Lü Dai. So he might as well obey orders, at least that way he could live a little longer.

Upon hearing this, Lü Dai smiled and said, "Then I will thank the King in advance. There is no need for the King to help in other aspects, but I have consumed a lot of food and supplies along the way, and I may need to borrow some food from the King."

Lu Dai came from Jiaozhou. The journey was arduous, with difficulties in transporting provisions. The little food he brought with him had long been exhausted. The provisions he was currently using were those captured from Fan Shiman. However, the amount of captured provisions was limited. If he wanted to wage a long-term war, he needed to find a stable source of provisions. At present, the only one who could provide provisions for the army was Qu Lian.

Qu Lian immediately patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, my lord, I will order people to prepare right away. I dare not say more, but I can certainly provide you with a month's worth of provisions."

Lu Dai said with satisfaction, "In that case, we will rely on the King of Qu. Rest assured, after we destroy Funan, I will report your merits to His Majesty. His Majesty will surely reward you handsomely."

Qu Lian was overjoyed upon hearing this and quickly said, "Then thank you, Your Excellency."

If it were any other emperor, Qu Lian would definitely have had doubts, but Liu Bei, the Imperial Uncle Liu, had a reputation that was guaranteed.

After resolving the issue of supplies and discussing some details of attacking Funan, Lü Dai set up camp in Songlang Village to rest and regroup while waiting for supplies. As soon as the supplies from the district arrived, he would immediately lead his army into the heart of Funan and destroy the Funan Kingdom.

Since we've already come all this way, it wouldn't be right to leave without destroying a country.

After the discussion ended, both parties dispersed. Seeing that Lü Dai was alone, Mi Wei quickly approached him with a fawning smile and said, "This humble official greets Lord Lü. May I have a word with you in private?"

Lu Dai's lips twitched involuntarily. He instinctively wanted to avoid seeing him. The reason was simple: the person you fear most in this life is your creditor.

He knew about Mi Wei's mission to build a factory in Jiaozhou on the orders of the Crown Prince when he left Jiangling, and he also knew about Liu Shan's collusion with Guan Xing to rob the tomb of the Marquis of Haihun because he lost money.

So when he went to war with Shi Hui, he specifically ordered scouts to find out about Mi Wei's whereabouts, and at the same time sent troops to attack the sugar factory in order to take back the money. Unfortunately, the sugar factory had already been looted by Shi Hui, and when he got there, he only saw ruins.

But it didn't matter. In the ensuing battle, he forced Shi Hui to abandon his supplies and flee in panic, thus seizing all the assets of the sugar factory, including the thousands of kilograms of red and white sugar that had already been produced and the remaining nine thousand strings of copper coins.

That's right. Half of the funds Liu Shan gave Mi Wei for building the factory had already been spent when Shi Hui robbed it. Only a little over nine thousand strings of cash ended up in Lü Dai's hands, but those several thousand catties of red and white sugar were probably worth a lot of money.

Before taking back the sugar factory assets, Lü Dai originally planned to return them to Liu Shan in order to win the favor of the Crown Prince, but his thoughts changed when he actually got the sugar factory assets.

First of all, there are those thousands of kilograms of red and white sugar. That's a real treasure. No matter if the soldiers are injured or starving, or even if they've been starving for three days and are on the verge of death, a cup of sugar water will immediately make them lively and energetic again. This is not just sugar; it's clearly a strategic resource that can be used as both military rations and medicine.

So the captured red and white sugar had already been wasted by his soldiers, and now even if he wanted to return it, he had nothing to return.

As for the remaining nine thousand copper coins, I'm sorry, they were already used to exchange for goods with the barbarian tribes, and they've all been spent long ago.

Therefore, when Lü Dai saw that Mi Wei was particularly guilty and wanted to escape but had no reason to do so, he had no choice but to take Mi Wei to a secluded place and ask, "General Mi, what is the matter?"

Hearing this, Mi Wei's heart skipped a beat. The old man was deliberately playing dumb, clearly not intending to pay it back. But he still had to try. Every little bit counted.

Mi Wei hesitated for a moment and said, "Lord Lü, as you know, I came to Jiaozhou to build a sugar factory on the orders of His Highness the Crown Prince. However, the sugar factory and its supplies were looted by Shi Hui. Now that you, Lord Lü, have devised a plan to eliminate Shi Hui, what do you think of the assets in His Highness the Crown Prince's sugar factory...?"

Lu Dai said without batting an eye, "I understand what the general means, so before the battle I specifically instructed the army to keep an eye on this matter. But when we were counting the spoils after defeating Shi Hui, we didn't find the sugar factory assets you mentioned. Could it be that Shi Hui has already spent them all? Why don't you go and ask Shi Hui?"

There are some things you absolutely cannot admit to, and this asset is no exception. You absolutely cannot say that you have seen it. If you have seen it, you must return it. After all, it is His Highness the Crown Prince's asset, and you cannot openly seize it by trickery. Therefore, you absolutely cannot admit to it.

Mi Wei was so angry he wanted to curse. "I'm with Shi Hui every day, how could I not know where this asset went? You damn fool, you're just lying through your teeth!"

Although he knew Lü Dai was talking nonsense, Mi Wei was helpless. It was obvious that Lü Dai didn't want to return the money, so what could he do? He could only fight Lü Dai if he could win, since Lü Dai had troops under his command.

Mi Wei could only sigh helplessly, "What should we do? How can I explain to His Highness the Crown Prince if we can't find the assets?"

"Lord Lü, you must help me! That money was borrowed by His Highness the Crown Prince from the Empress. If I can't get it back, I'll have no face to return to Jiangling."

Since they can't use force, they can only play the victim. They hope that Old Man Lü will have some compassion and not make things too ugly, at least give them something in return.

Lü Dai was in the wrong after all, and felt that he couldn't live with himself if he didn't help the other party solve the problem, so he said, "I do have a way to help the general solve his urgent problem. Would you like to hear it?"