My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 114 If it weren’t for Zijing, how could I see through the thief Cao?
Liu Bei held a welcoming banquet for Guan Yu, Zhuge Liang and Lu Su, and they all had a great time that night. There is no need to go into the details.

Two days later, after a brief chat with his elder brother, Guan Yu was sent to Huaiyin in the north to oversee the use of naval forces to harass Yuan's army's grain transportation line on the Huai River.

Ji Ling's army, which had already suffered heavy losses under the city of Xuyi, would undoubtedly be made even more miserable by the participation of Liu Bei's navy. Not only would they be unable to capture the city, but they would also gradually run out of food.

Ji Ling's troops were actually strengthened twice in mid-June, but it was useless. With Zhao Yun and Zhang Fei there, they could not take the city by force, and could only besiege it.

Guan Yu himself didn't need to go to the front line. Yuan's army didn't have any decent navy on the Huai River anyway, except for grain transport ships and boats. He only needed to be responsible for staying in Huaiyin County in the rear, training and expanding the navy as soon as possible, and leaving the specific patrol and food-cutting tasks to the officers below.

Because Lu Su had been eating, drinking and chatting with Guan Yu these past few days, he had become quite familiar with them and they had a mutual respect for each other, so of course he had to go to the dock on the day of farewell.

On the afternoon of July 12, Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang, and Lu Su all came to the dock by the river, and a few others including Mi Zhu also came.

The others were not surprised by the time and place of the farewell, as they were obviously old Guangling people. Only the newcomer Lu Su was quite curious: Why did they choose to set off in the afternoon?

He originally thought that this was just for the luncheon, but after some toasts, as Liu Bei personally escorted Guan Yu to the water fort wharf on the Yangtze River and sent Guan Yu onto the warship again, Lu Su, who was familiar with the geography, finally realized that something was wrong.

He could not help but ask Zhuge Liang: "Why did General Guan take a warship directly to the north? Did he have to sail from Hailing County to the East China Sea, then go north to Haixi County and sail back to the Huai River? These warships are all long and thin fast ships. How can they withstand the turbulence of the waves?"

Zhuge Liang smiled calmly and said, "Why should we go to the sea instead of the nearby one? The Han Canal is right in front of us, why not just take the Han Canal?"

If a novice in military strategy heard this, he might not take it seriously. But Lu Su was well versed in military geography, and he was shocked when he heard it:
"How is that possible? Since King Fuchai of Wu built the Han Canal six hundred years ago, I have never heard that a large ship can pass through the Han Canal. At most, it can only be sailed by boats. Is Kong Ming taking advantage of me because I don't know geography?"

Under normal circumstances, Lu Su's geographical knowledge is actually correct - this is also why in history Sun Ce only attacked Hefei instead of Huaiyin when he went north.

As mentioned earlier, there are clearly two east-west waterways connecting the Yangtze River and the Huai River.

However, the Rushu River and the Fei River to the west were natural rivers, much wider, and even tower ships could sail through them. However, the Han Canal was too shallow during the Han Dynasty, and warships and battleships would run aground if they tried to force their way through, not to mention tower ships.

In history, the Eastern Wu had the advantage of large ships and naval forces. How could Sun Quan give up this advantage and only use small boats to fight the northerners? Cao Cao also calculated this point, so he asked Zhang Liao and others to focus on defending Hefei, but he was not too worried about Huaiyin.

It was not until the Tang and Song dynasties that the sluice gates were built on the Han Canal, the water level was raised, and the navigation capacity was greatly enhanced (also because the specifications of the Han Canal rebuilt by Emperor Yang of Sui were higher than those of Emperor Fuchai), and from then on, attacking the Yangtze River from the Huai River did not necessarily require going through Hefei.

For example, in the late Ming Dynasty, when the Qing army led by Duoduo went south, they carried red cannons from Huaiyin through the canal and went straight to Yangzhou. Shi Kefa died for his country and Yangzhou was occupied for ten days. An important prerequisite for Duoduo to fight like this was that the navigability of the canal was greatly improved. Otherwise, Duoduo would have to learn from Sun Quan or Jin Wushu and go to Hefei obediently.

However, at the end of the Han Dynasty in this time and space, the strategic pattern of Jianghuai between the north and the south had obviously been changed by Zhuge Liang.

The Han Canal sluice gates and the two-way bifurcated estuary waterway project that Zhuge Liang built for Liu Bei a few months ago raised the average water level of the entire Han Canal channel, especially the opening where the southern section of the channel connects to the Yangtze River, which is at least six or seven feet deeper than before, so that larger ships can pass through.

At this moment, facing Lu Su's question, Zhuge Liang could show off to him proudly:
"Brother Zijing is indeed a learned man who is well versed in geography. He will surely have the potential to become a famous general in the future, but he should always review his past and learn new things.

Since April, the Han Canal has not been the same as it was in the past. Three months after the river was separated, it is time to re-examine the geography. Why are you so late in seeing things? "

Lu Su was stunned and puzzled for a moment. It was because they got off the boat that day directly at the dock by the Yangtze River, not in the canal. He went directly into the city after getting off the boat and had not seen the new river channel and gate of the Han Canal with his own eyes.

So he could only follow Zhuge Liang on horseback. Finally, the group rode to the mouth of the canal and watched Guan Yu's fleet line up in the river channel waiting to anchor before heading north. They waited for a while, until half past noon, when the river water had risen to its peak and then began to recede.

Only then did Lu Su see that the huge gate that divided the Han Canal into northern channels had been opened. The fresh water from the Yangtze River poured into the Han Canal due to the slight water level difference, carrying Guan Yu's fifty warships and flowing northward on their own without rowing or towing.

It was not until Lu Su had watched the entire process that he intuitively understood the subtle principles behind it. When he looked at Zhuge Liang again, his expression was filled with even more awe.

This was not just a matter of saving manpower and governing Guangling. Zhuge Liang changed the strategic geography between the Yangtze River and the Huai River by himself!
A lot of old geographical knowledge about stationing troops and transporting grain had to be relearned just because Zhuge Liang opened the map editor!

"Will this change be detrimental to Lord Xuande?" This question immediately popped up in Lu Su's mind, but he soon realized keenly that it would most likely not be the case.

Because having one more node like this is definitely beneficial to the side with strong navy and weak army. This means that the side with strong navy no longer has to focus on Hefei and fight north. If Hefei cannot be attacked, it can switch to Huaiyin.

For the northern princes who had strong land forces but weak navy, this meant that they had to strengthen the military strength of the Huaihe River defense line. They had to heavily guard Hefei and Huaiyin, which wasted a lot of military strength of the northern land princes.

When Lu Su finished thinking about all this, Zhuge Liang told him calmly:

When I started this small project, I just wanted to save the manpower of the canal trackers and loaders, and to manage the saline-alkali land around Sheyang Lake, so that Guangling County would have millions of acres of fertile land...

This project was originally the wish of his elder brother, so that the families of Liu Bei's soldiers who fled south after the defeat last year would not have nothing to do in the winter, and the work would be used as relief. He was only responsible for the specific design and construction, and the strategic planning was still the credit of his elder brother.

After hearing all this, Lu Su couldn't help but feel deeply inferior. It seemed that he had not fully realized the gap between him and Zhuge Brothers. He was only about 70% of Zhuge Brothers' strength in the field he was best at, but Zhuge Brothers were all-rounders! (Except for martial arts)
You must seize the opportunity to get along with Zhuge Liang, to gain inspiration and broaden your horizons, then look back and work hard to make up for it, so as to have the opportunity to impress others in the future.

……

After the group saw Guan Yu off, Liu Bei finally had time to talk more with Zhuge Liang and Lu Su, and to discuss relatively abstract grand strategies and issues of justice for the world.

Liu Bei was very good at time management. Although he knew that it was more important to win over new people, he also knew that it was very hard for Guan Yu to be on his own during this period, so he focused on comforting Guan Yu during the time Guan Yu was there, and would ask about other things after seeing him off.

The most important thing in the world right now is how to adjust the strategy against Yuan Shu. Zhuge Liang did not hide anything. As soon as Liu Bei opened his mouth, he revealed the plan he and his elder brother had discussed:

"General, for now, our army has already forced Yuan Shu to retreat in several directions. In the future, we only need to stop attacking on land and use the navy to cut off his food supply, to hint to Yuan Shu that our army has no intention of immediately seizing his counties and prefectures, and only wants to protect itself for the time being. This will ease the war a little and induce Yuan Shu to eventually abandon our army and attack Cao Cao."

When Liu Bei heard about this plan, he had more moral concerns than when Zhuge brothers discussed it internally, so he couldn't help but ask one more question: "But the court ordered me to attack Yuan Shu, and Yuan Shu is a traitor. If I actually make peace with him, will it be against the righteousness?"

Before Zhuge Liang came, he had obviously expected Liu Bei to ask this question, and he could not help but smile bitterly and persuade him: "Our army has not openly made peace with Yuan Shu, but even when we fight against the enemy, our troops will be exhausted and need to rest and recuperate.

Since June, our army has annihilated 20,000 Yuan troops, while our army in Guangling and Yuzhang combined has a total of only 40,000 troops. This is an annihilation of an enemy equivalent to half of our own troops. Is there any other lord in the world who is as brave as our army and sacrifices his family to help the country?
Cao Cao held the emperor hostage and had the Qingzhou troops. One and a half months after Yuan Shu proclaimed himself emperor, he was still accumulating strength, watching the outcome, and preparing for the autumn harvest. Do you still have the nerve to ask us to contribute more?
Moreover, even during the rest period, our army will not completely stop fighting. We will still fight on the water but not on land. This is also due to our lack of strength. We can only use our navy to fight, and we cannot fight against the stone with an egg. As long as our navy does not stop threatening Yuan Shu's shipping route, we will be a role model for the world."

Zhuge Liang's words were fluent and clear, and Liu Bei's moral concerns were finally resolved.

Today, Lu Su unexpectedly appeared in this occasion, which was different from what Zhuge Jin had expected. Lu Su naturally wanted to show off himself, so he quickly put forward some additional opinions:
"There is one more thing, General. I think that you were treating Cao Cao with the heart of a gentleman and the belly of a villain. Perhaps when Cao Cao first met the emperor last year, he behaved quite respectfully, and the people of the world thought that he had reformed and was willing to be a loyal and righteous minister from now on, which was understandable.

But now that he has held the emperor hostage for nearly a year, his foundation has gradually become more solid, and he has also shown many usurpations. Last year, when he first arrived in Luoyang, he expelled Yang Feng and Han Xian, who had made contributions in protecting the emperor on his return to the east. Although these two were born as Baibo bandits, they had made contributions after all.

Later, Yang Feng and Han Xian were forced to surrender to Yuan Shu. Now that Yuan Shu proclaimed himself emperor, the two were helplessly captured by the enemy. Cao Cao took advantage of the situation to expand the attack and purged the old officials in the court who had close ties with Yang Feng and Han Xian on their way back to the east. This was simply killing with a borrowed knife! This is the first one.

Taiwei Yang Biao, the official in charge of two departments, enjoyed the highest position in the country. Now that Yuan Shu proclaimed himself emperor, Cao Cao imprisoned and tortured Yang Biao just because he was related to the Yuan family by marriage. It is said that Shaofu Kong Rong ran around for him, saying that according to Zhou Li, fathers and sons and brothers were not implicated, so how could Yang Biao be killed because of marriage? He said that if Cao Cao killed Taiwei Yang, people who were watching and listening would no longer trust Cao Cao. Although Kong Rong was a man from Lu, he would leave tomorrow and never come to the court again - this is the second reason.

From these two events, we can see that Cao Cao's obedience to the emperor was fake, but he was really using the emperor to kill dissidents. He could use this to kill Yang Biao today, and after dealing with Yang Biao and Yuan Shu tomorrow, wouldn't he have to implicate Yuan Shao? Otherwise, how could one implicate relatives by marriage but not brothers? Wouldn't that be giving up the near for the far?

I'm afraid that this will never end. Once Cao Cao tastes the sweetness, he will not stop. In the end, he will reward and punish at will, and let him do whatever he wants! I know the general's loyalty, but you must not be too loyal, so as to be used by Cao thieves and leave your relatives sad and your enemies happy! "

Lu Su's words were obviously more intense than his analysis when he joined Sun Quan in history. But there was nothing he could do about it, because he came to see Liu Bei two and a half years earlier than he had met Sun Quan in history.

Two and a half years is enough time for many changes in the external environment. In July of the second year of Jian'an, Cao Cao's crimes of tyranny and disloyalty were much less than those at the beginning of the fifth year of Jian'an. This also forced Lu Su to observe more carefully, analyze and unravel the mystery, and prove that "Cao Cao was deceiving the emperor rather than serving him", helping Liu Bei to make this psychological construction switch faster and better.

Implicating old ministers who had a good relationship with Yang Feng and Han Xian on their way back to the east, and implicating Yang Biao, these two cases were not serious at first, but after Lu Su made some analogies and deductions, they seemed a lot more serious.

Liu Bei thought about it again and again, and could not help but praise: "Zi Jing is very good at seeing the big picture from the small details. He can infer the evil intentions that Cao Cao may have from just one or two cases. This is really refreshing to me.

Indeed, in the future, you should be more careful about the imperial edicts issued by the court, whether they are the true intentions of your majesty or the misinterpretations of Cao Cao, and you should not blindly follow them. Why not ask Zijing to condescend to serve as the Western Division of the General of the Southern Expedition Office temporarily, so that I can also listen to your instructions morning and night. "

Lu Su was originally just showing off his own ideas, which he had discussed with Zhuge Jin before. This time, he came to Liu Bei to optimize, integrate, reorganize, and sell them again.

Unexpectedly, as he was bragging, he got into an awkward situation. Liu Bei suddenly asked him to be an official. The atmosphere was set to this point, but he couldn't think of the words to refuse.

Liu Bei said again: "Could it be that you despise the low position? That's because I am of low status, with only one county, and cannot offer more real positions. I can only grant people the empty title of a subordinate of the general's office.

If Zi Jing is willing to serve as a clerk in the Western Division, although he will be temporarily ranked with the chief clerk Sun Gongyou and the Eastern Division clerk Bu Zishan, as long as he has the opportunity to make meritorious contributions, he will be promoted to Sima and Changshi in the near future. "

Liu Bei had the title of Four-Expedition General, so he could have opened a full-fledged shogunate, but his talents were dwindling, so he did not set up a general's office. Most of the talents were placed in local official positions in Guangling and Donghai, and the general's office was not fully staffed.

When Lu Su first arrived, all the vacancies in Guangling County were filled, so Liu Bei temporarily used the General's Office to recruit officials. For example, Cao Cao's current East Cao officials are Sima Lang and Mao Jie, respectively. This position is not high, but they will meet the big boss every day and report their work.

Lu Su originally wanted to consider it, but Liu Bei said that he thought the position was too low, so he had no choice but to agree to it, so as to avoid leaving a bad reputation of being "greedy for wealth and fame, and unable to share hardships."

"How dare I complain about my lowly position... Even though I am a clerk in the general's office, I am still afraid that I am not up to the task."

"In that case, it's settled." Liu Bei clapped his hands and made a decision, then turned to Zhuge Liang.

"Sir, I have made up my mind to lure Yuan and Cao into a fight. However, I need you to teach me in detail how to do it, how to ensure that Yuan Shu can be mobilized by us and that Cao Cao will have to fight."

(End of this chapter)