The Three Kingdoms: Zhaolie, the strategist, and the rise of the Han Dynasty

Chapter 114 Mr. Li is the three-in-one holy body of Zhang Liang, Han Xin and Xiao He!
In fact, if we really talk about wealth, the Skeleton King’s Huainan is the richest.

Yuan Shu only occupied the Jiujiang area of Yangzhou.

However, his strength was enough to suppress the princes of Yangzhou, such as Liu Yao, Xu Gong, and Wang Lang.

This was mainly due to the late development of the South at that time.

The entire population of Yangzhou is concentrated in the north, which is Huainan where Yuan Shu is located.

And this place is very suitable for farming.

Later, Deng Ai opened up large-scale military farms in Huainan and obtained 30 million hu of grain in seven years.

This shows how fertile this place is.

It’s a pity that the Skeleton King is not a good person. He has been messing around in Huainan for several years, making the people here live in misery and people are competing for cannibalism.

Next, Li Yi put forward his own idea:
"Among all the counties in Xuzhou, Guangling is the most suitable for farming."

"I would like to ask the Lord to allocate 100 million yuan to cooperate with Chen Yuanlong to dig canals and speed up the construction of the Hangou River."

"Then we can divert water for irrigation and store up military rations."

"At the same time, open the waterway for grain transport."

Previously, in order to persuade Liu Bei to agree to build the Hang Canal, Chen Deng only asked for 10 million coins.

This is actually not even enough to cover the entire amount, the rest of the money was paid by the Chen family themselves.

Now Li Yi took the initiative to help Chen Deng ask for funds, hoping to speed up the construction of the Hangou River.

At the same time, water conservancy projects were developed, canals were dug, and water was diverted to irrigate the fertile fields in Guangling.

"...Well, Ziyu has such an ambition, so there is no reason for me to refuse."

Liu Bei has always been willing to accept good advice, especially when facing Li Yi.

"It is unknown how much grain Guangling can harvest in a year."

Li Yi patted his chest and guaranteed:

"With Guangling's water conservancy and Chen Yuanlong's talent, we can produce at least one million hu of water a year!"

"Well, that's a huge number."

Liu Bei was slightly surprised, if Guangling County alone could contribute one million hu of grain a year.

No matter how much money you invest, it's worth it.

Historically, Cao Cao once appointed agriculturalist Zao Zhi to cultivate land in Xudu.

In one year, one million hu of grain were harvested.

There are two reasons for this success.

First, Yuzhou was indeed very suitable for military farming. Later, Deng Ai and Sima Yi both engaged in military farming in Yuzhou.

Second, Zao Zhi was one of the top agricultural masters during the Three Kingdoms period.

Under his operation,

Cao Cao "stored grain for several years, and his granaries were full", which enabled Cao Cao to "conquer the four directions without the trouble of transporting grain."

Only later did he have the strength to challenge Yuan Shao.

This is the benefit of the military farming system.

At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the power of powerful landlords expanded rapidly. They frantically annexed land and strengthened their control over the landless refugees.

The implementation of the military farming system not only curbed land annexation, but also enabled farmers who had lost their land to return to the fields.

Barren land can also be reclaimed.

"The way to stabilize a country is to have strong troops and sufficient food."

"The Qin people unified the world through agriculture, and Emperor Wu of Qin pacified the Western Regions through military farming. These are the good practices of our ancestors."

Li Yi analyzed the situation for Liu Bei in an orderly manner.

"Last year, we established military farms in Xiapi, which proved the superiority of the military farm system."

“Now that we have successful experience and the political situation is basically stable, we can try to promote it throughout the state.”

"We should still follow the previous policy and lend the oxen to the people for farming, and then collect rent according to regulations."

"As for Guangling, as Yi just said, it must be developed as a priority."

"Repair the Hangou Canal and facilitate water transport."

"Firstly, the improvement of water conservancy facilities can make irrigation of farmland more efficient."

"Secondly, after the canal transportation is unblocked, our Xuzhou army can follow the waterway and go down the river, speeding up the march."

"Make full preparations for the future annexation of Jiangnan."

Liu Bei was given instructions and listened carefully.

I really admire Li Yi's unique insights.

As a military advisor, he has lofty ambitions and always does whatever he thinks of.

And if you do it, you must do it well.

He is indeed a great talent who combines knowledge and practice.

"The military advisor promoted military farming throughout the state, and I had no objection."

"But Guangling faces Jiangnan directly, making it vulnerable to invasion by Yuan Shu."

"Although we have repelled Yuan's army, if they come back in the future, I am afraid that agricultural production will be affected."

Liu Bei also knew that Guangling was suitable for military farming. After all, it spanned the south and north of the Huai River, and had fertile land and abundant products.

However, this place is too vulnerable to harassment from the Skeleton King.

What if the rice is ripe and Yuan Jun comes to harvest it? Wouldn’t that make the whole year busy?
Li Yi also considered this issue and said:
"This is an easy matter. We can station 20,000 people in Guangling as a military settlement."

"Each village has sixty people."

"On one hand, we cultivate the land, and on the other hand, we guard the country."

"As time goes by, Guangling will become the fertile land of Xuzhou."

Saying,

Li Yi turned around, took something out of the room and handed it to Liu Bei.

Liu Bei was stunned. "Is this a plow?"

"My lord, do you think this thing is different from an ordinary plow?" Li Yi asked.

"…Hiss, it seems to be a lot lighter."

Liu Bei took it in his hand and played with it over and over again.

"Yes, this is the curved plow, which I asked the craftsmen to make."

Li Yi introduced the advantages of the curved plow to Liu Bei in detail.

This is an agricultural tool that has played a landmark role in the entire agricultural transformation of China.

During the Han Dynasty, straight-beam plows were still in use throughout the country.

To plow the land with this kind of plowshare, two oxen and one man are needed.

You know how precious oxen are.

Using two cows would be a waste of animal power.

Moreover, the straight-beam plow is also inconvenient to operate, requiring someone to hold down the plowshare from behind, which is time-consuming and laborious.

The force point of the curved plow is moved forward a lot, so people can simply hold the plowshare to maintain the direction.

Once the curved plow came out, it easily defeated the heavy and difficult to operate long straight plow.

The craftsmanship of this thing is actually not complicated. It only requires slight improvements based on the straight-beam plow.

It only took Li Yi more than a month to complete it.

But why did he not take it out until now?
This brings us to the development history of the curved plow.

Since this thing is simple and has high farming efficiency, why was it not invented until the Tang Dynasty?
Because during the Sui and Tang dynasties, China's economic center had shifted to the south, and the land resources in the Jiangnan region were further developed.

Rice production has also increased significantly.

Compared with the straight-beam plow, the biggest advantage of the curved-beam plow is that it can rotate freely, making it easier to deep plow.

Very suitable for use in southern paddy fields.

Most areas of Xuzhou are still growing wheat and millet.

It is not suitable for the promotion of curved plows.

But Guangling is different. It spans the south and north of the Huai River and also has a large number of lakes inside.

Very suitable for growing rice.

Since Guangling was now to be fully developed and military farms to be established here, Li Yi took out the curved plow and planned to promote its use throughout the county.

"……Well."

Old Liu gently stroked the plowshare. After all, he came from a lower class background and knew a lot about farming.

The advent of this thing will definitely greatly improve the efficiency of farming.

Use less human and animal power to cultivate more land.

"The master knows the weather, the terrain, the people's hearts, the strategy, and the use of troops."

Liu Bei knew everything Li Yi had done in the past year, "He even knows about farming."

"Sir, you are truly a god!!"

Old Liu bowed and said.

Li Yi hurried forward to support him, lifted him up, and said sternly:
“This is the nutrition provided by our ancestors.”

"Yi is just a small silkworm that eats a few mulberry leaves and spits out a few strands of silk."

Liu Bei was slightly stunned.

He respected Li Yi from the bottom of his heart, and admired his humble and noble character sincerely.

He stepped forward, held Li Yi's hand tightly, and said seriously:

"But if there were no silkworms spinning silk, how could we weave beautiful silk and beautiful mountains and rivers?"

Although Liu Bei was in a high position, he always listened to the people's voices.

He had long heard that the people of Xuzhou compared Li Yi to:
"He has a brilliant plan like Liu Hou, uses troops like Huaiyin, protects the territory and the people, and helps the country to save the world, which is different from the Marquis of Ying."

It’s really the appearance of Emperor Gaozu!

How much smoke must have risen from Liu Bei's ancestors' graves before he could meet a great talent who was not only Zhang Liang, but also Han Xin and Xiao He?
"I wonder how many of these... curved-beam plows you have, sir?"

Liu Bei asked.

"Only this one."

Because Li Yi is still in the process of experimenting, it has not been built on a large scale.

Besides, this matter needs to be discussed with Liu Bei in advance.

"Now we can use skilled craftsmen to build this model overnight."

"Just hand it over to Chen Yuanlong later."

"As long as the speed is fast enough, we should be able to catch up with next year's spring ploughing."

Liu Bei was overjoyed and readily agreed.

“As the sage said, he who wins the hearts of the people wins the world.”

"He who wins the heart of the emperor wins the heart of the princes."

"He who wins the hearts of the princes wins the hearts of the great officials."

“He who wins the hearts of the officials can only win the hearts of the scholars.”

"This curved plow is a tool that benefits the people. Ziyu can understand the teachings of Confucius and Mencius and cares about the people."

"I am grateful for that."

Afterwards, Liu Bei handed the curved plow to Chen Deng.

Chen Deng is also an agricultural expert and a top-notch expert in agricultural production.

When he saw the curved plow, he was amazed and asked where it came from.

Liu Bei then told him about Li Yi's invention of the curved plow.

"Hey!"

Chen Deng found Li Yi and patted his shoulders excitedly.

"Zi Yu, Zi Yu, this thing is very beneficial to farming, why didn't you bring it to me earlier?"

Li Yi smiled and said:

"We were busy with the war in Huainan before, so it was not appropriate to talk about farming."

"Now that Yuan's army has retreated, I advised my lord to cultivate the land, so I took out this item."

"Since Yuanlong is the governor of Guangling, he can promote it to the local people."

Chen Deng nodded his head like pounding garlic, and said happily:

"With these things, Guangling will become the best farmland in the world!"

Li Yi said again:

"Since Yuanlong is here, let's discuss the next thing together."

Liu Bei was stunned. So there was something else?
Li Yi nodded and said:

"When the lord came here, he should have met Liu Shizong and Xu Zijiang, right?"

Liu Bei's eyes narrowed and his expression suddenly became serious.

Liu Xian came on behalf of Jingzhou, while Xu Shao came on behalf of Yangzhou.

The masters of the two families are from the same royal family as himself.

Liu Bei could more or less guess the purpose of this visit.

"Earlier, General Xu had hoped that Guangling would send troops to cooperate with Liu Yangzhou to attack Sun Ce and recapture Qu'a and Dantu."

"I put it on hold for now, on the grounds that my lord has been away for a long time."

Li Yi truthfully reported to Liu Bei what happened while he was away.

Liu Bei nodded and asked again:

"What about Liu Shizong? What did he come here for...?"

Chen Deng said loudly:
"I'm afraid Liu Jingsheng has the ambition to take over Jiangnan!"

Hiss...Liu Bei really wanted to say to Yuanlong, "Why are you roaring so loudly?"

Li Yi analyzed methodically:

"Now the lord is fighting with Yuan Shu in the south of the Yangtze River, and Yuan Shu's general Sun Ce is fighting with Liu Yao for the territory of Wujun and Danyang."

"Liu Jingsheng was in Jingzhou and was spared from the war. Now that he sees the chaos in Yangzhou, why wouldn't he come out to share the spoils?"

Li Yi took out a map and used his hands to explain the current situation to Liu Bei.

"Lujiang is adjacent to Jiangxia in Jingzhou, with the Dabie Mountains in between."

"If Liu Biao takes Lujiang, he can expand his influence to Yangzhou and Yuzhou."

"For Jingzhou, this is definitely a good thing."

The real Liu Biao in history was not as Cao Cao described him to be, a man of name only and a guard dog.

Liu Biao had other highlights in his life besides riding alone into Jingzhou.

Before that, he was a very promising young man.

He is not only eight feet tall, but also has a gentle and majestic appearance.

He was also known as one of the "Eight Ji" together with his fellow townsmen Zhang Jian and others.

What it means is that he is very good at fooling others into following him, a complete MLM master.

(It seems that this is also the blood advantage of the Liu family)

What is the status of "Baji" in the Han Dynasty?

The most prestigious people in the world at that time were the "Three Gentlemen".

Under the Three Lords, there are Eight Juns and Eight Gus.

Then comes the eight and the nine.

See? Liu Biao has made it into the top 30 in the national server at such a young age.

Absolutely one of a kind.

In history, in order to obtain Jiangxia, Liu Biao not only cooperated with the Skeleton King but also turned his enemy into a friend.

He even wanted to send troops to take control of Jiaozhou.

Not only did he appoint himself the governor of Jiaozhou, he also sent troops to fight against Zhang Jin, the governor of Jiaozhou at the time, every year.

Liu Biao was an ambitious and resourceful man. He sent people to communicate with Liu Yao to see if he needed his help.

At the same time, he sent Liu Xian to find Liu Bei.

Because Liu Bei was at war with Yuan Shu, Liu Biao hoped to cooperate with Liu Bei to divide Yuan Shu's Huainan together.

According to Liu Biao's idea, he probably wanted Lujiang, and Jiujiang would be left to Liu Bei.

The cleverness of Liu Biao's plan was that although he wanted Lujiang, he did not want to send troops.

He took the initiative to sell 300 warships to Liu Bei, which was already a manifestation of his sincerity.

He was friendly with Liu Yao, the governor of Yangzhou, and also wanted to win the right to make memorials for Lujiang.

All these plans are in line with the strategic guidelines set by Liu Biao.

Bet on the long side and reap the profits.

Use our money to buy the blood of people from Xu and Yang states.

This was the plan of Liu Jingsheng of Jingzhou.

"In this case, how do Ziyu and Yuanlong think they should respond to Liu Shizong?"

After listening to Li Yi's analysis, Liu Bei also understood Liu Biao's ambitions.

He immediately sought the opinions of Li Yi and Chen Deng.

Chen Deng was not afraid:

"Liu Jingsheng is not satisfied with owning Jingzhou, and wants to extend his hand to Yangzhou."

"In my opinion, it is better to reject him."

Chen Deng's governing style has always been strong, and he advised Liu Bei not to let Liu Biao interfere in the affairs of Jiangdong.

"No!"

Li Yi spoke up to stop him, "Although Liu Jingsheng has evil intentions, he has not made enemies with my Lord."

"Besides, selling warships to my lord is already a favor to Xuzhou. How can we make enemies with him now?"

but……

Chen Deng hesitated a little. In his opinion, Liu Biao would only want to hear two replies.

Either the two families cooperate and divide Yuan Shu together.

Either you reject me and we go our separate ways in the future, and don't come to me for help when you have problems.

"Liu Jingsheng wants Lujiang, so it's okay to give it to him."

"Is this place easy to get?"

Li Yi pointed out the key point.

Lujiang is one of the few fertile lands in Yangzhou.

The land here is maturely developed, has a large population, and is connected to Jingzhou by land and water.

Once Liu Biao took Lujiang, he would have the opportunity to take over Yangzhou.

What do those people in Yangzhou think about this?
Yuan Shu originally regarded Yangzhou as his own territory.

Liu Yao was the governor of Yangzhou appointed by the imperial court and had the legal right to claim the territory here.

As for other forces in Yangzhou, Xu Gong, Wang Lang, and Yan Baihu, how could these people sit idly by and watch Liu Biao become more powerful?
Including Zuo Rong and Xue Li under Liu Yao, they were all ambitious people.

The purpose of following Liu Yao was to gain a piece of territory of his own in Yangzhou.

Liu Biao controlled Jingzhou and was already very powerful. If he were allowed to take Lujiang.

Other forces will never give up.

"We might as well agree to an alliance with Liu Biao on the surface, but we just need to pretend to be compliant."

Li Yi put forward his own idea: since Liu Biao wants to spend money to make us bleed for him, then we will spend your money as much as possible.

As for how much blood is shed, it is up to us to decide.

"That's fine, but Liu Jingzhou already owns a large state."

Liu Bei expressed his concerns.

"We took Lingling and Guiyang in the south and occupied Hanchuan in the north."

"The territory is thousands of miles, with more than 100,000 soldiers and thousands of warships."

"I'm afraid that if the cooperation fails, I'll end up raising a tiger by my side."

Jingzhou has not suffered from large-scale wars like Xuzhou.

Moreover, Liu Biao had started his business many years earlier than Liu Bei and was also very capable.

It only took a few years for him to go from being a lonely old man with no one to rely on and no money to become the true lord of Jingxiang.

When facing the bandits, he used both kindness and force, and the bandits and robbers all turned over a new leaf and submitted to him.

Famous people from various northern states came to Jingzhou to avoid disaster, and Liu Biao did his best to help them.

It turned Jingzhou into a rare peaceful place in the chaotic world.

And a strange sight also occurred:

In this chaotic world, culture and education flourished in Jingzhou.

This led to the emergence of a "Jingzhou School", and Liu Biao even took the lead in compiling an astronomy monograph "Jingzhou Astrology", which has been circulated for hundreds of years.

Liu Biao was definitely a good shepherd in troubled times in both name and reality.

Therefore,
Faced with such a Han royal relative who has means, strength, and is also good at winning people's hearts.

Liu Bei felt that Liu Biao was an enhanced version of himself. How could he allow him to participate in the affairs of Yangzhou without any hesitation?
Trying to get the skin of a tiger will not benefit you in the end.

Li Yi saw the worry in Old Liu's heart, "Liu Biao does have the means to govern Jingzhou, but my lord has an advantage that Liu Biao does not have."

"What advantages?" Liu Bei asked.

"I."

Li Yi replied sternly, "My lord, I still have you."

In fact, the only difference between Liu Biao and Liu Bei now is Li Yi.

Because the problems Liu Bei encountered in Xuzhou were the same as the problems Liu Biao encountered in Jingzhou.

It’s just that Liu Bei had Li Yi to help him solve the problem, while Liu Biao was alone.

Indeed, Jingzhou was said to have more than 100,000 armored soldiers.

Indeed, as far as Jingzhou alone is concerned, it is really possible to mobilize 100,000 soldiers.

Note that it is Jingzhou that can be pulled out, not Liu Biao.

Liu Biao's control over Jingzhou is far less strong than Liu Bei's current control over Xuzhou.

Because the aristocratic families in Jingzhou are equally powerful and can defeat the strong.

The four great families of Cai, Kuai, Pang and Huang controlled the power in Jingzhou.

The other local aristocratic families are even more powerful.

Of course, Liu Biao was also trying hard to win over these aristocratic families.

For example: making use of the Kuai brothers to leverage their power, and marrying into the Cai family.

Doesn’t it look very similar to the method Liu Bei used in history to win over the Xuzhou families?
Liu Bei also valued the Chen father and son, Danyang faction and other major families, and married into the Mi family, a prominent family in Donghai.

But Lao Liu failed in the end and lost Xuzhou.

Liu Biao was not much better off. He was alone until his death and could not even trust his own son.

Therefore, Li Yi, who was always modest, said surprisingly in front of Liu Bei:

——You still have me!
Li Yi helped Liu Bei solve the problems in Xuzhou.

But Liu Biao had no one who could help him solve the problem in Jingzhou.

The history books once commented on Yuan Shao as "generous on the outside but cautious on the inside, fond of making plans but without decision."

In fact, Chen Shou also used this sentence to evaluate Liu Biao.

I guess Benchu is cursing at this moment.

It was clearly a bad review from two people, so why do I have to bear it alone in the end?

In addition to Chen Shou's evaluation,
Cao Cao once said that Liu Biao was a thief who guarded the house, and Jia Xu also said that he was suspicious, indecisive and incompetent.

However, Liu Bei was worried that Liu Biao had ambitions, and if he cooperated with him, he would not be able to control him in the future.

So did Liu Biao have any ambitions?
The answer is of course yes, and it’s huge.

But it is an ambition that one need not worry too much about.

Why?

Liu Biao often compared himself to King Wen of Zhou.

King Wen of Zhou claimed that "two-thirds of the empire still served Yin."

What it means is that he is particularly good at hiding himself.

It was not until the Shang Dynasty was almost doomed that his son, King Wu of Zhou, destroyed it in one fell swoop.

Liu Biao also had the same idea in mind, thinking that by keeping Jingzhou, he could fish in troubled waters and reap the benefits.

The world will naturally belong to him in the future.

However, he misjudged the situation and used the sword of the previous dynasty to kill officials of his own dynasty.

The national conditions of the Shang Dynasty were completely different from those of the Han Dynasty.

The Shang Dynasty was facing internal and external troubles at that time. If you didn't touch it, it would slowly collapse on its own.

But at the end of the Han Dynasty, many heroes emerged and became stronger and stronger.

In the end, when the merger is complete, I will be able to merge you as well.

And as the history books say, Liu Biao was a suspicious person.

This also became an important factor preventing him from conquering the world.

There was nothing he could do about it, because he came to Jingzhou alone and had to balance the affairs between these aristocratic families every day.

If you are not careful, you will be overthrown by others.

Do you think Liu Biao could trust others easily?

When he first entered Jingzhou, he was alone.

One step forward means a chance of death, one step back means no chance of survival.

So he could only stop hesitating and move forward.

But when he had firmly established himself in Jingzhou and grew older.

The more you get, the more you fear losing.

Although he seems to be successful, he is actually isolated and helpless.

He was unwilling to trust the aristocratic families such as Cai, Kuai, Pang, and Huang.

He also did not trust foreign generals such as Zhang Xiu and Liu Bei.

They could be accepted to defend the territory for him, but once they were allowed to lead the troops alone, Liu Biao would become suspicious.

Even his own two sons refused to believe it.

Liu Biao's shortcomings of suspicion and jealousy were infinitely magnified in his later years.

In this respect, he is actually very similar to Yuan Shao.

The success and failure of Yuan Shao and Liu Biao can actually be found in each other.

"Good! In that case, you and I can go together to see Liu Shizong!"

Under Li Yi's persuasion, Liu Bei believed that Liu Biao did not pose a major threat to him.

As Li Yi said,

I have Li Ziyu, but you, Liu Biao, seem to be surrounded by people in Jingzhou.

In fact, I am always alone.

……

(End of this chapter)