In ancient times, salt and iron were basically both official, and because the mining methods were not advanced, most of the mining situations throughout the Three Kingdoms period were mainly open-pit iron ore, and it was difficult to mine some shallow ore.

The exchange conditions proposed by Li Chen were a very good thing for Cao Cao. The current situation was already in danger for Cao Cao. Five thousand white horses could be exchanged for Gongsun Zan's help. Gongsun Zan was located in Youzhou. Once he attacked Yuan Shao from the rear, he could restrain most of Gongsun Zan's troops. This reduced the pressure on Cao Cao a lot.

Moreover, judging from the current situation, Cao Cao is not short of iron, and the reserves of weapons in the warehouse are sufficient. On the contrary, what Cao Cao lacks the most now is food. At the same time, the production of grain will decrease, but the demand will increase significantly. For iron to exchange grain, on the surface, this is a good thing for Cao Cao.

Just like Cao Cao was short of food, Li Chen had a great demand for iron. Xuzhou was considered a wealthy prefecture and county among many prefectures and counties in the Han Dynasty. Moreover, after Li Chen attracted refugees in recent years, the population has increased.

Li Chen has solutions to population, food, and economy, but there is only one thing that Li Chen can't solve. That is the reserve of natural resources. Most of the underground ores in Xuzhou are coal mines, and iron ores can be said to be in short supply.

Among the water warships that Li Chen is building, the main equipment is artillery, and artillery is equipment that consumes a lot of copper and iron. Although the power of the cannon is great, the iron ore required to cast a shell can be used to cast hundreds of arrows.

Li Chen now only has Xuzhou and Luoyang. Although both of them are rich and have a large population, they are in short supply of resources, so it is also a good thing for Li Chen to exchange grain for iron.

Cao Cao was short of food, so it was profitable for Cao Cao. Li Chen was short of iron, so it was also profitable for Li Chen. So the question is, since both of them made money, who was losing?

After some friendly negotiations, the two sides initially reached a consensus on exchanging grain for iron. At this time, the details need to be finalized.

Cao Cao looked at Li Chen and then said, "Just just now, my brother said that the market price of grain and iron is used to trade, but at this battle, both grain and iron ore will become a shortage of materials. The price will inevitably rise sharply. I don't know how to calculate this."

After Cao Cao finished speaking, he looked at Li Chen tightly. Cao Cao understood in his heart that after the war, the price of grain and iron would rise, but the increase in iron was definitely not as large as that of grain. Because as long as people were sent to mine iron ore, it could be smelted at any time. However, the grain was different, not only did the grain require a production cycle, but it was up to heaven to make a living.

Why did Cao Cao take the initiative to raise this question? To put it bluntly, Cao Cao was careful. He was afraid that Li Chen would raise the price. If he calculated based on the price in peacetime, one pound of grain could be exchanged for one pound of iron, then after the battle was launched, three pounds of iron might be needed to exchange for one pound of grain.

Li Chen could not tell Cao Cao's little thoughts. Thinking of this, Li Chen smiled loudly.

"Ha ha!"

"Brother Cao, put your heart in your stomach. Since I, Li Chen, is here today, I have no intention of putting in the wrong. In this way, it is better to trade the daily diet iron than to choose a date. The market price is based on today's market price. No matter what price in the future, how about we trade at today's price?"

As soon as Li Chen said this, a trace of light flashed through Cao Cao's eyes. Cao Cao never expected that Li Chen could say such a thing. Based on today's market price, there is no doubt that Cao Cao took a big advantage.

As the saying goes, there is no free lunch in the world, and there is no good thing about the pie falling from the sky. Cao Cao felt that Li Chen might ask for other conditions and make up for the benefits given to him in other matters.

Thinking of this, Cao Cao was both happy and worried, and asked with a frown: "Brother, I wonder if you have other conditions?"

Li Chen smiled slightly and shook his head gently: "The conditions are considered as conditions. In this way, I will tell you to Brother Cao."

As soon as he heard that Li Chen was about to make a condition, Cao Cao couldn't help but feel nervous. He was afraid that Li Chen would put forward any excessive conditions. If he did not agree, he would be afraid that the matter of exchanging grain and iron would be ruined.

"Brother Cao, that's it."

"If the iron ore is discovered, the mining will naturally require a large number of strong men. I think so. The mining rights of the mineral belong to me. Brother Cao can send someone to supervise it. We know how much ore has been mined at that time."

"There is another point, that is, in that period of chaos, the safety of this mining area needs to be guaranteed. Brother Cao's hands are not sufficient. In this way, I hope Brother Cao can allow us to station troops in the mining area. Of course, the number of troops stationed in each mining area is determined by Brother Cao. Brother Cao allows us to station troops, so how many troops can be stationed in my convenience."

"This third point is like this. When I came to Xuchang, I found that many official roads have been in disrepair. In this way, in order to transport the iron ore, I can also build roads for Brother Cao. As for the cost of this road construction, we can share the same cost between the two parties. If Brother Cao is not well-off, you can also use this iron ore to pay the bill." Li Chen talked happily and said his conditions.

After hearing Li Chen's conditions, Cao Cao also said that his face was full of inexplicable applications.

Cao Cao frowned and asked in a very puzzled tone: "Brother, this is your condition."

For Cao Cao, these conditions of Li Chen are not the conditions. They are simply giving him benefits and warmth.

Look, Li Chen first exchanged grain for Cao Cao's iron ore, and then refused to let them mine, but sent people to mine it himself, so that Cao Cao even won the manpower.

Then, Li Chen also had to help Cao Cao build roads. Although Cao Cao also had to bear the cost of building roads. However, this was the construction of roads on Cao Cao's chassis, which was equivalent to Li Chen paying half of the cost for him.

As for the garrison in the mining area, this is understandable. After all, the world is now in chaos and there are chaos everywhere. Li Chen asked to garrison in order to ensure the safety of the mining area. Didn’t Li Chen also say that the garrison must be approved by his own consent.

At this time, in Cao Cao's eyes, Li Chen was the best person in the world. At this time, not only did he not take advantage of the situation, but instead sent carbon in the snow.

After all, Cao Cao's vision was actually a poor person. This kind of loan was mortgaged with minerals and then gradually mortgaged with right of road. This series of behavior was perfected in that era.
Chapter completed!