Wait, please don't call me Emperor Zhaolie

Chapter 208 Maritime Silk Road
Zhou Yu couldn't help but nodded.

In fact, it was not just Xuzhou, it was like this everywhere in the country, the wealthy and powerful families occupied the farmland, and even the small wealthy families in the countryside had hundreds of hectares of arable land.

Especially at this moment when the Han Dynasty was in decline, laws and decrees became a mere decoration, and farmland was seized even more wantonly, while the princes could only win over the powerful and dared not offend them too much.

The only person in the world who could measure land in this way was Lord Xuande.

"Lord Xuande, the bandits and powerful people in Langya County are constantly rebelling. Why don't you let me lead my troops to take over and destroy the bandits?"

Sun Ce bowed and asked for the order.

Liu Bei laughed and said, "That's what I was thinking. Bofu going to Langya will definitely help Xiaoxian and Wenze. Ying Zhongyuan doesn't understand military strategy, so we can transfer Wenze to Taishan County to quell the rebellion."

As early as a few days ago, he had discussed with Sun Ce about transferring him to Langya to serve as the county governor, and allowed him to bring 3,000 people from his own army with him.

Although Sun Ce knew that Envoy Liu would not deprive him of his military power, he still couldn't help but get excited when he heard that he was allowed to take his old subordinates to Xuzhou.

On the day of crossing the river to seek refuge, in addition to bringing Zhang Xun and others over, he also gave his own talisman to Lord Xuande.

Unexpectedly, Lord Xuande only took it and glanced at it, then handed it to him, and said with a smile: "As a loyal minister of the Han Dynasty, how can you not have soldiers to support you?"

Sun Ce, who was ready to be slaughtered, was stunned on the spot. Then he came to his senses and excitedly wanted to kowtow deeply, but his arm was grabbed. When he looked up, it turned out to be Lord Xuande.

Liu Bei stroked his shoulder and smiled softly, saying, "Sun Lang is only a young man, and he may have great achievements in the future. There are countless achievements that he can make in the world. Bofu should work hard!"

"Your Majesty."

Sun Ce choked up a little. Ever since Aweng's death, he had been carrying the responsibility of the Sun family on his own. He settled everyone in Wujun, crossed the river alone and came to fight under Yuan Gonglu. He went through life and death several times but gained nothing.

If I had known that Envoy Liu was so kind, loving, and willing to recruit talented people, I should have crossed the river and headed north to Qingzhou to seek refuge. How could I have been teased by Yuan Shu for so many years?

"Bo Fu!"

Sun Ce came to his senses and saw Zhou Yu secretly pulling at his sleeve. He realized that the envoy was calling him, so he hurried forward to accept the order and said seriously: "I am grateful for the envoy's kindness. You treat me as a national hero, and I repay you as a national hero. Now I am ordered to serve as the prime minister of Langya. After I take office, I will eradicate the disasters and wipe out the thieves, bandits and tyrants to repay the envoy's kindness."

When Liu Bei heard this, he remembered something and hurriedly warned him, "Bofu, no matter how brave you are, you must not go alone and risk your life. There are many assassinations nowadays, and Chen Wang Liu Chong died there. You must be on guard against arrows and stray arrows, Sun Lang, remember this."

Although he did not understand why the envoy specifically asked him to guard against assassins, Sun Ce still nodded, secretly feeling that "Envoy Liu has the demeanor of an elder, and is deeply benevolent and generous."

Liu Bei didn't want to see Sun Ce go to Langya County to kill the local tyrants and end up dying accidentally at the hands of an assassin. That would be such a pity.

After arranging Sun Ce, he happened to see a hint of envy in Zhou Yu's eyes.

Liu Bei immediately understood. How could Zhou Yu not be envious when he saw that Sun Bofu had made great contributions and was sent to Langya to be the county governor, while he was still a military officer?

He thought it was a waste to always bring Zhou Yu with him to handle military affairs. Moreover, Zhou from Lujiang had passed on a lot of important information when he went to Pei State, and also forced Sun Bofu to turn against Yuan Gonglu, which could be said to be a great achievement. Now that the expedition to Huainan had come to an end, how could Liu Bei not reward Zhou?

"Gongjin, you have been traveling on rivers for many years and are quite proficient in naval warfare. In the future, if you want to pacify Huaiyang, Jingxiang and Jiaozhou, you will need the help of the navy. There are boats on rivers that travel like flying gulls, and there are frigates and fighting ships that are specially used to break the enemy's will. There are even four- or five-story ships, all of which are the overlords of the current river waters. But I have heard of a kind of large ship in Qingzhou, which is as flat as a balance on the top and as sharp as a blade on the bottom. It can break through the waves and sail on the sea. If the hull is broken, there are partitions to repair it. The cabin can store a year's food, and pigs can be raised and wine can be brewed in it. Gongjin, do you know what kind of ship it is?"

Liu Bei asked with a smile.

Not only was Zhou Yu stunned, but even Lu Su and Chen Qun beside him looked at each other in bewilderment. They had never heard of such a large ship.

Zhou Yu frowned and tried hard to recall all the books and volumes he had read, but he could not find the ship described by Lord Xuande.

Looking back at Chen Qun, I saw that he was also shaking his head slightly. Although there were many ancient books of the Chen family of Yingchuan, there were almost no records of ships.

Zhou Yu turned his gaze to Lu Su again, and Lu Zijing smiled bitterly and shook his head.

During this period, he and Zhou Gongjin became close and were willing to help, but his family was just a local noble family, and even though they lived at the junction of Xuzhou and Huainan, they had never heard of such a ship.

You can't just make up stories to the envoy for the sake of friendship, so he would rather keep quiet.

Dian Wei and Xu Chu stood on both sides of Lord Xuande without looking away. Of course, they had also heard the envoy's description, and although they were curious, they did not ask any questions.

Zhou Yu glanced around the military tent and found that no one could help him. His face turned slightly red and he bowed and said, "I am not very knowledgeable, I hope you can teach me."

Thinking back to when he was in Xuzhou, he had boasted that he knew naval warfare, was proficient in any type of ship, and understood ship warfare tactics. He didn't expect to be slapped in the face so quickly.

Liu Bei smiled and continued, "I have heard that if you build a boat near a river, it will be easily washed away by the water. But you can dig a big pit on the bank and build the boat in it. After the boat is built, you can dig a hole to let water into the pit. The boat will immediately float up and sail into the river. Gongjin, do you think this method is feasible?"

Zhou Yu pondered for a long time and said, "Even though I have never seen this method, what Xuande said is indeed a good plan. It is much better than recruiting hundreds of craftsmen and civilians to build a large ship by the river, but they were washed away by the river water due to heavy rain upstream, and finally wasted money and manpower in vain."

"May I ask, sir, who provided the previous method of shipbuilding and this method of digging the earth? I would like to meet him and ask for his advice. He must be a good craftsman."

Liu Bei coughed and explained, "This man may have died in the Yellow Turban Rebellion, and I haven't seen him for a long time."

After hearing this, Zhou Yu sighed with some regret and said, "What a pity that I can't see you."

Liu Bei thought to himself, "Although I can't find anyone to discuss this with, I can give you some hints so you can tinker with it slowly. I don't expect the big ship I build to be able to ride the wind and waves and cross the sea, as long as it can sail along the coast unhindered."

Then he smiled and said, "Gongjin, are you willing to supervise the construction of this ship in Xuzhou? I hope that in the future the Han army will not only be able to travel on rivers, but also on the sea."

"I heard that in the ninth year of Yan Xi, King An Dun of Great Qin sent an envoy from Rinan to present ivory, rhinoceros horn, and tortoise to Emperor Xiao Huan, and he came by sea. If they can go, we can go too."

(End of this chapter)