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

Chapter 594 Digging up one's own ancestral grave?

People rush about in a panic, all for a few coins.

Even Liu Shan, the crown prince, was no exception. He was so worried that his hair was almost white. He couldn't help but waile, "Where am I going to get 20,000 strings of cash? If someone gives me 20,000 strings of cash right now, I'll sell my position as the crown prince's attendant to him."

Guan Xing was startled and quickly advised, "Your Highness, please be careful with your words. You mustn't even have such a thought."

Selling official positions and titles is something that only happens at the end of a dynasty. The Han Dynasty has just been established and they're already doing this. Are you afraid your empire won't fall fast enough?

Liu Shan sighed, "Then you should help me think of something. What should I do? I don't even dare to see my father and Aunt Sun now, for fear that they will ask me how the factory is going?"

Guan Xing couldn't help but start scratching his head. Not only did Liu Shan need money, but he did too. He had a whole bunch of projects waiting for funding to get started, but money was something that was simply unavailable. Even a hero couldn't survive without a penny, and no amount of banging his head would help.

Guan Xing also wailed, "Yeah, what can we do? We can't just go digging up graves and robbing tombs like Cao Cao, can we?"

Upon realizing this, Guan Xing's mind went blank for a moment. Excited, he slammed his hand on the table and exclaimed, "Yes, how could I have forgotten about this? Your Highness, there's a windfall right here! If we can get our hands on it, let alone 20,000 strings of cash, 200,000 strings would probably be no problem. Do you dare to take it?"

Liu Shan and Zhang Bao were startled by the loud bang of Guan Xing slamming the table. Just as they were about to start cursing, they heard Guan Xing's words and their eyes lit up with a green light. They stared straight at Guan Xing and asked, "Where's the money? Don't talk about whether you dare or not. I'm so poor that I'm afraid of nothing."

Under their gazes, Guan Xing said slowly, "Your Highness, Xingguo, do you still remember the Marquis of Haihun? He was the one who reigned for twenty-seven days before being deposed by Huo Guang."

Liu Shan nodded and said, "Of course I know. After all, he was once an emperor, and his fame far surpasses that of my ancestor, Prince Jing of Zhongshan. Why are you mentioning him?"

Indeed, if Liu Bei hadn't claimed to be a descendant of the Prince of Zhongshan, who would know who the Prince of Zhongshan was?

Guan Xing said, "Although the Marquis of Haihun was deposed by Huo Guang, his title was not affected. Moreover, because he had been an emperor, his status in his fiefdom was much higher than that of an ordinary marquis. In addition, having lost his throne, he had no goal to strive for, so the Marquis of Haihun devoted all his remaining energy to making money. After his death, he took all the money he had made to his grave..."

This shows the difference between the Han Dynasty and later dynasties. In the Han Dynasty, deposed emperors could still enjoy wealth and honor in their fiefdoms and continue to live a peaceful life. In contrast, deposed emperors in later dynasties could only be imprisoned and enter a countdown to their death. It was the Sima family that changed this.

Liu Shan was taken aback and said, "What do you mean? You don't mean you want me to rob the tomb of the Marquis of Haihun, do you? That's not appropriate. Why should we follow Cao Cao's example?"

Guan Xing said, "What's wrong with learning from Cao Cao? Besides, money is only money when it's spent; if it's buried underground, it's just scrap metal. Wasn't the Marquis of Haihun saving so much money for our descendants to use in emergencies? If we don't take it now, when will we?"

He vividly remembered that when the tomb of the Marquis of Haihun was excavated in later generations, a mountain of coins was unearthed.

The reason why the Han Dynasty suffered from a money shortage every year despite mining copper was because of people like this. They worked hard to obtain money but didn't spend it; instead, the money was buried in the ground and allowed to grow mold, resulting in a shortage of money in the market, which caused deflation and seriously hindered economic development.

Liu Shan still hesitated and said, "Digging up graves is nothing, but Marquis Haihun is my ancestor after all. Isn't digging up his grave like digging up our own ancestral grave?"

Guan Xing said, "It's not like it's a direct descendant, so what are you afraid of? Besides, we're only digging this once. With this money, we can start many projects and then just sit back and collect the money. More importantly, the tomb of the Marquis of Haihun is in Haihun County, which is close to us."

If they wanted to make money by tomb raiding, they had to be in the Central Plains. Most of the imperial tombs were in the Central Plains, and Cao Cao had already dug them up. Even if they hadn't dug them up, they wouldn't have had the chance for the time being. But coincidentally, the tomb of the Marquis of Haihun was in Jiangnan. If Guan Xing didn't dig it up and take a look, he would slap himself twice in his sleep.

Liu Shan frowned and hesitated. Digging up other people's graves was fine, but digging up the graves of their Liu family emperors was a bit outrageous. These were his ancestors, even if they weren't direct descendants. If word got out, he would be drowned in the spittle of the world.

But thinking of the huge loss of 20,000 strings of cash, the way Liu Bei and Sun Shangxiang looked at him, and the vast wealth in the tomb of the Marquis of Haihun, Liu Shan wavered. After struggling for about a quarter of an hour, he slammed his fist on the table and said, "Let's do it! For money, I'm going all out! When are we going to make a move?"

Guan Xing said, "We need to ask a Taoist priest to calculate an auspicious day. Zhang Sheng, the leader of the Five Pecks of Rice sect, is currently in Jiangling and owes me a favor from Longhu Mountain. Asking him for help is definitely no problem."

Zhang Sheng came to Jiangling to attend Liu Bei's enthronement ceremony. After the ceremony, he stayed in Jiangling to preach, planning to return to Longhu Mountain after the New Year. But now...

If Zhang Sheng knew that Guan Xing had his eye on him, he would definitely regret not running away sooner.

Liu Shan said, "Then what are we waiting for, Boyue? Go and invite Master Zhang over to discuss important matters."

“Look…” Jiang Wei realized that the three of them could never lack money. When they were short of money, they would do anything, even dig up their own ancestral graves.

After Jiang Wei left, Guan Xing stood up, picked up a half-meter-tall barrel from the corner, and said, "This is the beer I brewed recently, to celebrate our imminent success."

Upon seeing the familiar wine barrel, Liu Chan and Zhang Bao simultaneously shuddered, their lips trembling as they said, "You still dare to drink this stuff?"

Last time, one beer almost killed them all. I thought Guan Xing had given it up, but who knew he was still brewing. You really don't know what's good for you.

Guan Xing said, "I've thought about it. The last time something went wrong was because our bodies weren't used to it the first time we drank it. Drinking it a few more times should help our bodies develop resistance."

Liu Shan and Zhang Bao: "..."

What the hell? You're poisoned by alcohol and instead of trying to improve the brewing recipe, you're planning to let your body continue to be poisoned so that it gets used to the presence of toxins. What kind of thought process is that?

The two intended not to drink, but the thought of the delicious beer made them unable to resist saying, "Then let's drink less today. Three glasses will be too much for us, no more than that."

Guan Xing poured wine, and the three raised their glasses. Just as they finished drinking a bamboo tube of beer, Jiang Wei led Zhang Sheng in. Upon seeing the beer, Zhang Sheng was so surprised that he opened his mouth wide.

He was also a victim of beer, so he knows what happens when you drink it. You three are really not afraid of death.

Although Zhang Sheng had heard of the beer's reputation, he had never seen it in person, so he was not surprised. He bowed and said, "This humble Taoist priest, Zhang Sheng, greets Your Highness the Crown Prince and Generals Guan and Zhang."

The three men rose to return the greeting, and after a brief exchange of pleasantries, Guan Xing pulled Zhang Sheng to a seat, handed him a bowl and chopsticks, poured him beer, and said with a smile, "Daoist Master, how is the construction of Longhu Mountain going? Do you need our help?"

Unsolicited kindness is always suspicious; Guan Xing's overly solicitous behavior is definitely not for any good reason.

Zhang Sheng said cautiously, "Thank you for your concern, young general. Thanks to you, everything went smoothly."

Guan Xing laughed and said, "It's not very interesting for you to say that, Daoist. I personally surveyed the terrain of Longhu Mountain when I fought Lu Xun. Building a Taoist temple there is not easy. It would be impossible without financial support. Daoist must be short of money lately, right?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Sheng became even more wary and asked nervously, "General, please just say what you want me to do."

Guan Xing cut to the chase: "It's like this, everyone's short on money lately and wants to earn some to spend. I heard there's a mountain of money in the tomb of the Marquis of Haihun, so..."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Sheng immediately flew into a rage, abruptly standing up and asking incredulously, "What the hell? You want this humble Taoist to help you rob tombs?"