My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 156 Now that the brothers have reunited, some things must be left to Aliang
On the fifth day of the eighth month in the third year of Jian'an, in the Han army camp east of Shouchun City.

Taking advantage of the opportunity of the entire army gathering in Shouchun, the Zhuge brothers, who had not seen each other for several months, finally reunited again.

To the west of this camp, across the river, is Shouchun City. To the northwest of the camp, it is directly connected to Bagong Mountain on land. After crossing Bagong Mountain and crossing the Huai River, Xiacai County is on the other side.

The Huai River and the Fei River form a T-shaped three-way intersection here. The water from the upper reaches of the Huai River flows from west to east like the vertical line of the T, and after flowing to Shouchun and Xiacai, it is blocked by Bagong Mountain and splits.

The main stream of the Huai River goes north around Bagong Mountain and continues to flow eastward, while the branch that goes south around Bagong Mountain is the Fei River.

After Liu Bei's army joined forces, they chose to set up camp in the east of Fei, across the river from Shouchun, which was equivalent to occupying the entire part above the horizontal line of the side T-shaped formation. The area below the horizontal line and the entire vertical line was left for Yuan Shu to escape without worry, indicating that Liu Bei would not take advantage of the opportunity to pursue him.

As for whether Yuan Shu believed it or ran away, that was another matter, which required the joint efforts of the Han army's advisers.

Today, Zhuge Jin shirked the other military planning tasks assigned by Liu Bei and asked to take a few days to consult with his second brother, under the pretext of "discussing with his second brother how to persuade Yuan Shu to abandon Shouchun and lead the army to break out."

But in reality, when brothers meet again after several months, they must first reminisce about the past, talk about other things, and slack off.

This is also part of the job, and Brother Zhuge is already diligent enough.

I was so busy before Aliang came. If I am still so busy after Aliang came, then Aliang’s coming would have been in vain!

"Aliang, why are you so late this time? The work of encouraging farmers to pull up and plant rice seedlings in Sheyang and Haixi should have been completed by the beginning of June, but you waited until mid-July before setting off westward to join Zilong. What did you do during the forty days in between?"

Zhuge Jin was not going to be polite with his own brother, so after exchanging pleasantries when they met, he asked Zhuge Liang directly where he had been slacking off during this period of time.

Although Zhuge Jin himself was not actually that tired, apart from improving the siege equipment, there was nothing else that required him to worry about.

It’s just that the living environment has become a little worse in the past month or so. We have to live in a siege camp outside Hefei. There is no house to live in, and there are many mosquitoes in the summer. No matter how good the sanitary conditions in the military camp are, they are definitely not as clean as in the city.

After living there for a month, Zhuge Jin wanted to get some new things, such as insect repellent floral water and new soap that was easy to store and carry. He did it for no other reason than to make his future military life cleaner and less sticky and itchy.

But these things will definitely not be used this year, I will deal with them slowly when I get back.

After Zhuge Liang heard his elder brother's complaint, he said frankly without any concealment:
"Although I have been delayed in Huaiyin for a long time, I have also been paying attention to the military situation in the front. Zilong's troops are insufficient and have been responsible for holding off and attracting the enemy. If I come earlier, I will be useless.

Although the work of planting rice and encouraging farmers in Sheyang and other places was completed in May, the planting time and depth of the rice seedlings in different places were inevitably different. The length of time for storing water before planting also varied.

This year is the first year of promotion throughout the county. We will observe the different methods, the amount of harvest and the growth of crops in different seasons, and record them and compile them into a farming book, so that it can be promoted throughout Guangling next year. "

Zhuge Liang said this, and proudly took out several scrolls, all of which were his own records of experimental data. There was also a last scroll, which was a summary of his experience, with the words "A Brief Account of Raising Rice Seedlings" written on it.

For example, in terms of experimental data, Zhuge Liang tested by township respectively "how many days in advance before pulling out the seedlings, how deep the water level is in the seedling field, how many days in advance water is released in the seedling field" and "how many days in advance when transplanting rice seedlings, how deep the water level is in the field".

Then the number of days for water release was recorded from three days to ten days, the water level depth was also recorded from one inch to half a foot, and the rice seedlings were pulled out and transplanted separately. With the four groups of data arranged and combined, there were dozens of experimental control groups.

Each township will conduct experiments according to one of the experimental data, and finally see which one has the best harvest. In this way, dozens of townships are needed to conduct experiments. Because there are not so many townships in Sheyang and Haixi counties combined, they have to conduct experiments in some areas according to villages, and each village has its own experimental data.

Of course, Zhuge Liang would not allow those villages with obviously poor performance to have a bad harvest just to fully test the experiment, because about 20 days after the rice seedlings were planted, the growth of the seedlings could be differentiated.

For those where the water storage is obviously too shallow, the data can be directly judged as bad, and then irrigation can be strengthened to make up for it slightly, leaving only one or two experimental fields without making up for it, to ensure that the final real data is seen. In addition, for the farmers who are required to serve as the control group, the government will also specially register them and exempt them from land tax this year as compensation for cooperating with the government in the experiment.

Zhuge Liang's experimental records continued until the rice began to head, which allowed a preliminary look at the yields of various planting methods.

Of course, when the rice ears just start to emerge, we can only roughly count the number of rice ears to estimate the yield. In fact, the yield at the final autumn harvest is still short of a data variable on the degree of filling.

That is, how big each rice grain will eventually grow and whether the rice is full. However, as a rough estimate, it is already usable. After Zhuge Liang left, he also instructed his deputy Xu Miao to help him calculate the actual yield of the final autumn harvest.

Although Xu Miao's qualifications were much worse than Zhuge Liang's, he followed Zhuge Liang's ideas throughout the process and was able to learn how to operate by copying them.

Zhuge Jin carefully read all of Zhuge Liang's control group experimental records and was quite relieved.

It seems that letting my second brother stay in the rear for another month and a half was worthwhile.

Although he had to worry about the military affairs at the front alone, his second brother actually figured out the best water storage period for transplanting rice, the best water storage time, the best transplanting date, and several key technical details within a year.
For example, it was discovered that it was best to pull and plant the rice seedlings on the same day. It was absolutely not allowed to concentrate on pulling the rice seedlings the day before, leave them overnight, and then plant them the next day. The survival rate of the rice seedlings left overnight would be much lower because the nutrition of the rice seedlings and the activity of their root systems had decreased. After Zhuge Liang discovered this, he uniformly required farmers to start pulling the rice seedlings before dawn in the morning and plant them before dark in the afternoon of the same day.

These summarized good experiences can be promoted, which is the merit of Shennong, and can benefit the people of Lianghuai, Xiangyang and Hanzhong (Xiangyang and Hanzhong are not yet benefited).

"It seems that you have not been idle in the rear. You have been observing the growth of rice seedlings and experimental data. You have learned the secret scrolls on the physiology of all things that I gave you two years ago quite thoroughly. Yes, the data design of this experimental control group is very reasonable. It should be divided like this. Keep up the good work in the future."

Zhuge Jin read it all and finally expressed his approval of his second brother.

Zhuge Liang was a little nervous at first, but when he saw that his elder brother fully acknowledged his achievements, he breathed a sigh of relief: It seems that at least in terms of encouraging farmers, he has learned all of his elder brother's skills!

……

The two brothers talked for a while about their respective achievements in the past few months. They chatted leisurely for half a day. After lunch, they felt a little sleepy, so they went back to rest and slept until they woke up naturally after being refreshed, just as relaxed as the days when they were in the thatched cottage.

The sun is setting and the sunlight in early August of the lunar calendar is not as strong. You can bask in the sun, it is quite warm.

So Zhuge Jin took his second brother, under the pretext of discussing military affairs, and had the soldiers drive a carriage loaded with their own improved fishing gear. He also brought a hundred Bai Li soldiers as guards, and went to the bank of the Fei River to fisher while brainstorming.

As for the fishing float, there is no need for the two of them to watch it all the time. There are attendants and guards to help watch it. As long as they occasionally find that the float moves, they will come over and pull the rod and enjoy the pleasure of the final harvest.

As for the ordinary soldiers, who had nothing to do, they naturally had to get two boats to patrol the Fei River, responsible for safety on the water, and occasionally catch a few nets, so that they could improve their military food when they returned home at night.

Zhuge Jin found that it was a good idea to cultivate his second brother's interest in fishing. It could slow down his pace of life, so he wouldn't have to work so hard and could pay attention to the combination of work and rest.

After casting the rod, Zhuge Jin leaned back on a bamboo chair, letting his face be shaded by the tree and his body exposed to the sun. He closed his eyes and asked,
"Ah Liang, how do you think we should talk to persuade Yuan Shu to give up Shouchun? Should we use courtesy first and then force, or should we show our army's offensive capabilities first and scare Yuan Shu?"

Zhuge Liang followed suit and moved the recliner to a precise position, with leaves just above his head to provide shade:
"Yuan Shu is a proud man, he won't give up so easily, not to mention Shouchun is his pseudo-capital. But we should still persuade him first, but while persuading him, we must immediately prepare for a fight, so that if he refuses, we can immediately launch an attack on the city to deter him.

As for the specific deployment of the siege, I think we should still learn the rhythm of the middle and late stages of the Battle of Hefei, that is, use a small number of battering rams and chariots to lure the enemy and force the enemy to densely defend with spearmen on the top of the wall, while our army uses a large number of siege towers and catapults to kill the enemy soldiers on the top of the city.

Also, the moat should be filled up immediately. Just a few gaps should be filled to allow a small number of Ge Gong cars and battering rams to approach the city wall. There is no need to fill as much as when attacking Hefei."

Zhuge Jin thought for a while and said: "If we want to fill the moat, it is better to switch the outlet of the moat upstream from the Feishui River. However, if our army goes around to the upstream of Shouchun to block the outlet and build a cofferdam, it will naturally cut off the connection between Shouchun and Xiacai, and threaten the waterway from Shouchun City to the north and out of the Huaihe River from the Feishui River.

Wouldn't this scare Yuan Shu and make him think that we are trying to lure him out of the city and then surround and annihilate him in a field battle?"

Zhuge Liang thought about it and realized that this was also a problem. If you want to force Yuan Shu to abandon the city and break out, you cannot threaten his planned breakout route too much, otherwise you will scare him and make him decide to defend to the death, which would backfire.

Zhuge Liang sighed and said, "Then let's give up filling the gap in the moat and try to use heavy-duty trench bridge vehicles. Let's improve a few trench bridge vehicles, push them to the side of the moat and set them up, so that the Ge Gong car can be pushed over them directly like a wooden bridge.

At worst, we can make some thick wooden piles that can be quickly connected with mortise and tenon joints, and insert them into the trench bridge frame to bear the weight after it is completed. This way, it can withstand the weight of the Ge bus."

Zhuge Jin was stunned when he heard this. He had never thought of improving the siege boat bridge troops of this era. The so-called trench bridge vehicle of the Han Dynasty was just a large wooden board on it.

If the moat is not very wide, wooden boards are simply placed on both sides of the river bank so that the soldiers can step on them and rush across. Sometimes battering rams can also bear weight, similar to the drawbridge at the city gate.

If the moat is too wide and there are not enough long trees lined up to form a moat bridge, then this thing will be useless.

Zhuge Liang was the first to think of adding wooden piles or "bridge piers" to this simple trench bridge to bear the weight. This was not the case in the Han Dynasty, not to mention the Tang and Song Dynasties. It was a completely new idea that had never been seen in history.

Zhuge Jin quickly asked for a few details, but Zhuge Liang's answer was very idealistic. He said, "I was inspired by my elder brother. It was my elder brother who first added those detachable armored ladders and anti-arrow shields to the catapults and trolleys."
That's why he thought of using the same method of "prefabricated parts and on-site assembly" to prepare simple wooden pile bridge piers in advance, and then insert them into the mud at the bottom of the river with a shield, and cover them with a trench bridge car.

"Okay, if you want to try, then give it a try. Anyway, it sounds like this will cost much less than filling the moat. Even if it doesn't work in the end, it will scare Yuan Shu and make the defenders mistakenly think that we have a killer move to destroy Shouchun's moat."

Zhuge Jin finally agreed to this design, but it was not because he was arrogant, but because he realized that the main purpose of this war was to win the hearts and minds of the people. Even if all kinds of fancy new gadgets had no practical value, they could still be put there to scare people.

If it was any other situation where an attack was absolutely necessary, Zhuge Jin would never allow himself to be so reckless and make mistakes.

After thinking of the specific deployment of the deterrent siege, Zhuge Jin asked: "Then, how should we write the words to persuade Yuan Shu to abandon the city and break out? Who should be sent as the envoy at that time?"

Zhuge Liang thought for a moment and said, "I can't think of the exact wording right now, I have to go back and revise it several times. But the idea is to emphasize that our army is strong and powerful. When we attacked Hefei, we wiped out the defenders. Now our army is even more powerful. Yuan Shu will die sooner or later if he is trapped in Shouchun."

Moreover, we will isolate Shouchun from the inside and outside. Now it is August, and we have already reached the city. It is almost time for the autumn harvest of rice in Huainan. We can ensure that Yuan Shu will not be able to bring a single grain of Huainan's local grain into Shouchun City. They can only survive on last year's stored grain.

Even if Shouchun, as a pseudo-city, had a certain amount of food in stock and survived the winter, it would not survive the famine next spring. Even if they besieged but did not attack, he would still die after more than half a year.

The last point of the psychological attack was to emphasize that Yuan Shu would die in his own hill, hoping that Yuan Shu would consider his hometown of Runan. If he died here, his hometown of Runan would surely be immediately captured and destroyed by Cao Cao.

If he returns to Runan, our army will be satisfied with taking Shouchun and will not pursue him in Runan. At the same time, Lu Bu's army can only fight with Cao Cao in Qiao because of its long distance and cannot go to Runan. In this way, Yuan Shu will not have to be besieged by three princes like now. He only needs to face Cao Cao's family. Maybe he can live another year or two. "

Zhuge Jin had not thought of this last argument before. He did not consider that after Yuan Shu's retreat, the number of enemy princes who needed to be directly resisted would be reduced.

It seems that the two brothers still need to brainstorm and inspire each other to come up with more ideas.

Zhuge Jin finally made up his mind: "Okay, tomorrow I will ask the lord to arrange for someone to write the first letter of persuasion according to this idea. However, who is suitable to be the envoy to enter the city? Should we wait for Sun Shao to come back? Or send Xianhe or Gongyou? I am afraid that Yuan Shu will be angry and harm the envoy."

Zhuge Liang: "Why not send Yuan Huan? Yuan Huan is a surrendered official who surrendered to Zilong in Yicheng. He is from the Chenjun Yuan family, so Yuan Shu should not kill him. Moreover, although Yuan Huan surrendered before, he abandoned the dark and joined the light, but many people questioned his integrity. He also never had the opportunity to meet the lord and be reused.

If he could not fear the sword and persuade Yuan Shu to abandon the city, whether he succeeded or not, it would prove that Yuan Huan did not surrender to his lord out of fear of death, but because he understood the changes from obedience to rebellion and knew that Yuan Shu, a traitor, would be punished by heaven.

This will be good for Yuan Huan's reputation, the morale of our army, and the reputation of our lord, and it will not give the court any reason to criticize us, so it is the best of all worlds."

Zhuge Jin didn't think about it anymore and just copied the answer: "Okay, after the letter is written, use Yuan Huan as the envoy."

(End of this chapter)