My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 176 No Lu Xun, only Lu Yi
Liu Bei and Zhuge Jin stayed in Wuhu until late February of the fourth year of Jian'an, when they received an official response from Bu Zhi's troops.

But in fact, Zhuge Jin helped Liu Bei make a plan to secretly assist Wang Lang in Fujian to contain Sun Ce. That was a decision made as early as the end of September in the third year of Jian'an.

At the beginning of October, Liu Bei met with Bu Zhi and assigned him the task. Zhuge Jin also gave him some advice.

Bu Zhi then went to coordinate the necessary resources, including receiving warships, weapons, food and wages, and the Danyang soldiers and sailors who needed to be taken away.

It took more than a month to prepare. In mid-November, Bu Zhi set out on his journey and sailed downstream to Wujun in the second half of the month.

The reason why it took three or four months to come up with something and send people back to report on the completion of the task is entirely because wandering around on the rivers and seas is such a waste of time.

……

The words are divided into two parts.

The story of Bu Zhi's actions began in November of the third year of Jian'an - that is, when the Zhuge brothers in Wuhu first started to develop the steel pouring method and counterweight trebuchet.

In order to maintain the secrecy of the operation, Bu Zhi did not set sail from Wuhu.

Wuhu was too far from the destination, and along the way they had to pass through the entire section of the Yangtze River controlled by Sun Ce. If a fleet of dozens of large warships and two thousand soldiers passed by, they would definitely be discovered and suspected by Sun Ce's navy.

Moreover, before the battle against Yuan the previous year, Liu Bei's army had already made a gesture of "building warships to ensure the stability of the Yangtze River and Huai River defenses against Yuan Shu." This strategic deception also played a certain role at the time.

Yuan Shu was induced to think that Liu Bei was no longer a threat to him in the second half of the second year of Jian'an, but he had the power to control the Yangtze River and the Huai River, and he could not defeat him even if he took the initiative to attack. So he stopped fighting Liu Bei and turned back to attack the State of Chen, killing Chen Wang Liu Chong, and thus started a full-scale bloody battle with Cao Cao.

At that time, Liu Bei's army had not yet occupied Wuhu, and its "deceptive investment" in the shipbuilding industry was mainly spent in the coastal counties of Guangling County. The investor was the Mi family, and the Zhuge family provided technical support.

One and a half years after the plan was implemented, it never played a direct role in the military. It only provided the Mi family with some keeled sea-going merchant and civilian ships.

It was not until Bu Zhi accepted Liu Bei's mission to contain Sun Ce that these naval technology products, which had been cultivated for a year and a half in advance, could finally play their practical value.

Bu Zhi finally set sail from Hailing County on the night of November 16th. He chose night because he did not want his fleet to be spotted on the river immediately after leaving the port. With a full night of sailing downstream, they could travel about 50 to 60 miles east, which was enough time for Bu Zhi's fleet to sail out of the narrow river section and enter the trumpet-shaped bay at the mouth of the Yangtze River.

The terrain of the Yangtze River Estuary at the end of the Han Dynasty was much more retreated than in later generations. In later generations, places like Rudong and Qidong in Nantong City were considered to be completely close to the sea, while the main urban area of Nantong was not close to the sea.

At the end of the Han Dynasty, the main urban area of Nantong already had a first-line sea view. Qidong is still a shoal completely below sea level, and Rudong is an isolated island with no one living on it. Only the Mi family started mining guano on the island last year and dug it up to use as fertilizer for saline-alkali land treatment.

The south bank of the Yangtze River estuary, later known as Suzhou and Changshu, is now an estuary. As for Taicang Port, it was still below sea level at that time.

The horn-shaped mouth of the Yangtze River is so wide that the north and south banks are sixty to hundreds of miles wide. The navy that Zhou Yu occasionally sent to patrol along the south bank had no chance of discovering Bu Zhi.

After four days of careful sailing, on November 20, Bu Zhi finally arrived at the sea south of Wu County with fifty warships, two thousand soldiers and sailors, and two deputy generals, Zhang Duo and Jin Qi.

Those who have paid attention to Zhuge Jin's previous experience of pacifying the six southern counties of Danyang should be familiar with the two deputy generals Bu Zhi - Zhang Duo and Jin Qi were both "Danyang bandits".

The former was a Chaohu pirate who surrendered along with Liu Ye when Zhuge Jin broke through Wankou.

The latter was a bandit from Huangshan. After Zhuge Liang used new mountaineering tools to help Guan Yu break through Linli Mountain, he was so shocked by Guan Yu and Zhuge Liang that he surrendered.

Because Bu Zhi could not bring senior Han generals to help Wang Lang this time, as it would be easy for Sun Ce to discover him, he could only bring Danyang soldiers/Shanyue people, so he organized it like this.

These two candidates were also carefully selected by Bu Zhi. After a thorough investigation, he believed that the two had basic military qualities. One had fought in naval battles for many years, and the other had fought in mountain battles for many years (the main form of combat was robbery), and their command abilities were average.

Although their character is not guaranteed, fortunately they are all people who know the times and are good at advocating strong support. It is good to fight in a favorable situation, but they cannot play in an unfavorable situation and are prone to surrender.

Now that Liu Bei has secretly joined forces with Wang Lang to fight against Sun Ce, no matter how you look at the situation in Yangzhou, Liu is strong and Sun is weak. After Bu Zhi understands their temperaments, he no longer worries that they will make stupid mistakes and abandon the strong and join the weak.

As for the future when Cao and Liu officially fall out, it is obviously impossible to expect these people to fight against Cao Cao. At that time, they can only be left as rich men. Once such "timely-aware" people find that Cao Cao's paper strength far exceeds Liu Bei, they will never fight for Liu Bei with all their heart.

At this moment, although the fleet was dozens of miles away from the coast, it was beyond the visual range of the coastline.

However, relying on the estimation of the itinerary and course of the previous few days, the rough observation of the elevation angle of the sun at its highest point at noon, some simple auxiliary measurement tools, and Professor Zhuge Jin's mathematical algorithm,

Bu Zhi could still roughly calculate that the "latitude" they were at was obviously further south of Wu County (Zhuge Jin told Bu Zhi the "latitude" of Wu County before he set out, so he only needed to roughly measure the latitude of his own location and compare it).
Zhuge Jin certainly couldn't make a sextant, and his so-called auxiliary measuring tools were nothing more than a few compass stones for leveling and some protractors with rotating needles, which were very crude. But in any case, they were much more advanced than those originally used by Han Dynasty navigators, and the accuracy could be improved by at least an order of magnitude.

In addition, Bu Zhi did not need to look at the sun himself to determine the sun's altitude. This was too damaging to his eyesight. During the Western Age of Navigation, many old captains and navigators became blind in their later years.

Since ancient times, the Chinese army has had special people responsible for "observing the sun", so Bu Zhi only needs to let the professionals observe and read the numbers, and he will be responsible for using the mathematical algorithms taught by Brother Zi Yu to complete the calculation part.

It is recorded in "Records of the Grand Historian: The Biography of Chen She" that Zhou Wen, who was sent by Chen She to attack Guanzhong (and later defeated and killed by Zhang Han who mobilised 200,000 prisoners from Mount Li), was a "sun-watcher" in the army of Chu general Xiang Yan in his early years.

After confirming their position and communicating with their generals, Zhang Duo, who was a pirate, was eager to persuade Bu Zhi: "Bu Zhonglang, aren't we going to Wu County to meet some people and then go to Sun Ce by land? Why don't we turn around and head west to the shore immediately?"

(Note: Bu Zhi's current official position is Zhonglang of the General of Chariots and Cavalry's Office)
Bu Zhi stood at the bow facing the wind, looking very confident: "If we go directly to Wu County, what's the point of us sailing away from the coast for four days and hiding our whereabouts? Can those sea-going ships with keels in our fleet show up in front of Sun Ce and Zhou Yu?

Continuing south, I have a sea chart provided by Brother Zizhong. There are many islands near this area, and there are two or three islands that are said to have pirates. We searched for the past two days, wiped out one of the groups, and occupied an island with a dock as our foothold.

Then, send only a few old warships without keels to Wuxian to meet Sun Ce. You take the rest of the people and hide on the island to rest for a few days until I come back. "

Bu Zhi had done all of this according to Zhuge Jin's instructions - Zhuge Jin wanted him to keep it secret, to make the new equipment as sudden as possible for a surprise attack, and not to expose it to Sun Ce and Zhou Yu in advance under peacetime conditions, so that they would be on low alert when they crossed the sea to attack Wang Lang later.

After all, Bu Zhi brought two thousand people with him. If they all appeared as an envoy, Sun Ce would also be suspicious.

Of course, how to achieve confidentiality at the specific execution level is definitely an independent decision made by Bu Zhi, and Zhuge Jin will not be able to micro-manage remotely. The one who has a capable general but is not controlled by the king will win.

First find a small island on the south side of the sea off Wu County to dock and hide most of the strength. This is the implementation plan that Bu Zhi came up with himself.

After listening to Bu Zhi's plan, Zhang Duo did not object. Although he was a pirate on the Yangtze River, he had vaguely heard that there had always been small groups of pirates in the Yongdong Islands (Zhoushan Islands) between the sea off Wu County and Juzhang, who often went ashore to rob the people of Wu County, Juzhang and other places of their property and ran away with a handful of plunder.

These pirates are not very professional. Sometimes when the fishing season is abundant, they change back to their original profession as fishermen. They only become pirates when they cannot catch enough fish to fill their stomachs, so their fighting ability is not very strong.

Sun Ce and Zhou Yu did not wipe them out. Firstly, they wanted to catch the big ones and let the small ones go. Wang Lang had not been completely eliminated yet, so he had not taken care of them. Secondly, these pirates were well-informed, and their ships were fast on the sea, so their whereabouts were erratic.

As locals, they had spies in Wu County and Juzhang County. If Sun Ce sent troops, they would receive the news immediately and then move away. Sun Ce's army would arrive slowly and would only catch nothing. However, this time, the navy that came to deal with these pirates did not set out from Wu County or Juzhang on the south bank, but from Hailing County, which was 400 miles away. No matter how local the pirates were and how many spies they had, they could not reach the border of Guangling County, so there was no early warning time.

Bu Zhi led the fleet and carefully cast a net to search. After another afternoon, he finally found a pirate island on the sea a hundred miles east of Haiyan County (an outer island of the Shengsi Islands in later generations).
"Thank God, it seems that my efforts in growing melons in Haiyan County were not in vain. What I learned about the surrounding geography and thieves is still not outdated at all."

When he found the target, Bu Zhi finally breathed a sigh of relief.

If he were to go to another place, he really wouldn't be sure to achieve his goal. But this island happened to be off the coast of Haiyan County, which was the place he was most familiar with.

One year before Zhuge Jin traveled through time, Bu Zhi had gone ahead to explore the way for his senior brothers Zhuge Jin and Yan Jun as they headed south, and had planted melons in Haiyan County for a year. When he was a farmer, he was not focused on farming, but would often inquire about the geographical environment and customs, so he had known about the existence of this group of pirates for a long time.

"Quick, while it's still dark and the island is not on guard, launch a surprise attack immediately! From what I knew back then, there are at most a few hundred pirates on this island, and that includes men, women, old and young. Their weapons are poor and they have little fighting power. Our army can just occupy this place. Even if Sun Ce comes to patrol later, you, Sima Zhang, can stay on the island and disguise yourself as a pirate."

As Bu Zhi gave the order, Zhang Duo's soldiers immediately drove the keel ship to rush over. When the two sides were less than five or six miles apart, they saw some commotion on the coastal dock, which should be because the government troops were discovered. However, it was too late to move away at this time, so they could only try to resist the enemy on the beach.

After a while, Zhang Duo landed with 500 sailors equipped with bows and crossbows. Before going ashore, they used a volley of crossbows to suppress the pirates from a distance, killing more than ten pirates who tried to resist the enemy on the beach and injuring dozens of others.

The pirates immediately scattered and dared not to line up for resistance on the beach. Instead, they let Zhang Duo land and then organized a counterattack, hoping to drive Zhang Duo into the sea while he was still unstable.

Zhang Duo used spears in the middle, forming a hedgehog-like formation, and archers and crossbowmen landed in batches, more and more. The pirates who rushed up had no way to attack, and were either knocked over by the spear formation or shot by the crossbows.

Bu Zhi had the right order for his soldiers to shout slogans in unison to persuade them to surrender: "Those who surrender will not be killed! Those who are willing to join the army to defeat the Sun bandits can be retained!"

So after only half an incense stick of time, most of the remaining pirates laid down their weapons under the forced surrender of the government troops. The leader of the pirates was unwilling to surrender, but was betrayed by his two lieutenants and tied up for surrender.

When the bandit chieftain was dragged in front of Bu Zhi by his deputies, the two deputies were still muttering, "I'm sorry, big brother. We have no choice but to sacrifice you in exchange for the lives of our brothers."

The bandit chief looked as pale as death, but at the very end he still had a fierce look of unwillingness. When he saw Bu Zhi, he wanted to pounce on him, but after being held down, he still roared:

"You bastard! What tricks did you use? Why didn't my brothers in Wuxian, Haiyan and Juzhang report the news? Did you harm them? You killed my confidants, how can I surrender to you? I won't accept this! This is impossible!"

It was only at this moment that Bu Zhi understood why the bandit chief could not swallow his humiliation. It turned out that he had lost without knowing why.

But since he had come to this point and was kidnapped by his deputies, Bu Zhi certainly could not spare his life - because if he let him go and let him continue to lead the original team, then the two deputies would be in trouble, and might even be liquidated and killed by the bandit leader. Bu Zhi could not do such an idiotic thing as winning over the diehards and harming the surrendered ones.

Speaking of this, we have to mention the biggest smear on Zhuge Liang's IQ in Luo Guanzhong's "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" - in Zhuge Jin's opinion, the most degrading part of Zhuge Liang's intelligence in Luo Guanzhong's entire book was the "Seven Capture of Meng Huo", in which he said that he released Meng Huo, who was captured by Yang Feng, Dong Tuna, Ahui Nan and others.

The key point in the book is that after Meng Huo was released, he went back and killed the traitors who surrendered to Zhuge Liang.

With Zhuge Liang's intelligence, is it possible to do such a thing? This is simply a forced "seven captures and seven releases".

Even Xiang Yu, who betrayed Cao Wushang, would never do such a thing. If Cao Wushang really had the guts to turn against Liu Bang openly and directly tie up Liu Bang and offer him to Xiang Yu, then Xiang Yu would have no choice but to kill Liu Bang to protect Cao Wushang.

Other Nanman leaders and generals kidnapped Meng Huo and surrendered, and then released him to allow Meng Huo to kill the surrendered. This is simply nonsense. If there is such an opportunity, wouldn't it be better to directly support someone else to replace Meng Huo as a puppet? It doesn't have to be Meng Huo.

At this moment, it was obviously impossible for Bu Zhi to fall into Luo Guanzhong's magic of reducing intelligence, so his decision was very straightforward. He just let the pirate chief die with a clear conscience, and then he could go on his way with peace of mind.

"Don't worry, I didn't touch any of your spies in Wuxian, Haiyan, and Juzhang - because I'm not from those places at all. I came directly from Hailing County in Jiangbei. What can you use to scout and warn in advance?"

Bu Zhi told this sentence clearly to the kidnapped pirate leader and saw that the other party's eyes gradually became relieved, but he still had more confusion.

"This is impossible... This is impossible! How could someone in the world sail over 400 miles in the open sea without stopping at the shore, just to cause trouble for us? I have never offended General Zuo!"

The pirate chieftain felt as if his faith had collapsed, because he thought that his sailing skills were the best, and he could not imagine the existence of such sailing technology.

The only thing these pirates rely on to survive is that they come and go like the wind and have good information. If the government troops really break into their lair and fight, these bandits who only rely on short weapons are no match at all. As long as they don't run away, they are doomed to die, and the battle will be a waste of time.

"Well, I'll let you die with a clear mind - first of all, just because you don't know how to do it doesn't mean that all the wise men in the world don't know how to do it. How can you imagine the ships and navigation techniques improved by the Zhuge family?
Secondly, you did not offend Liu Yangzhou, and you are not well-informed. Liu Yangzhou is already the General of Chariots and Cavalry, not the General of the Left.

But we want to borrow your nest for use. It has nothing to do with whether you offend us or not. Do those people from Wuxian, Haiyan, and Juzhang who were looted by you offend you?"

After Bu Zhi said the last word, he drew his sword and chopped off the pirate chief's head with one blow. Then he wiped the blood and allowed the two deputy pirates to surrender.

"What are your names? How many people are there on the island? If you are willing to follow the General of Chariots and Cavalry to suppress the rebellion and deal with the Sun thief, I will grant you birth in the future."

The two deputy pirate leaders immediately knelt down and pleaded, "I am Hu Fang/Hu Yi, the one who was just killed by the general was our leader and clan brother Hu Zong. There are only more than 600 people on our island, and only 400 men. We lost about 100 people in the fight just now, and the rest are willing to surrender! We dare not have any second thoughts!"

Bu Zhi nodded and pointed at Hu Fang: "You will be assigned to Zhang Sima's command and serve as our guide. I will go from Huating to Wuxian. Hu Yi will be assigned to Jin Sima's command and continue to stay on the island."

The two dared not disobey, and were soon dispersed and mixed by Bu Zhi, and controlled by the Danyang soldiers. He took Zhang Duo with him, selected a dozen smaller ships, and sailed west back to the coast, heading for Wu County.

There weren't that many old, dilapidated ships in Bu Zhi's fleet. After all, a ship without a keel would be quite unstable if it were to sail to the southern part of the East China Sea. Bu Zhi didn't plan to take the few old ships to Fujian.

The reason why he could gather more than a dozen ships at this moment was obviously because he temporarily seized the pirate ships of these pirates. After the battle, there were a lot more ships, and the delegation looked more like a mission.

After more than a day of sailing, on the morning of November 23, Bu Zhi finally docked at Huating Town, which was under the jurisdiction of Wu County. He then revealed his identity as the "envoy of the General of Chariots and Cavalry" and traveled by land to Wu County to visit Sun Ce.

However, when in Huating Town, Bu Zhi first visited a wealthy local family, the Lu family, as he was not in a hurry anyway.

Bu Zhi had been growing melons in Haiyan for a year, so he knew the Wujun Lu family quite well, but he was of low status back then, so they didn't look down upon him socializing. Now that he was a military officer under the General of Chariots and Cavalry, the situation was completely different.

When Bu Zhi arrived at the Lu family, he simply took out his business card in a grand manner. Soon, a young man who was a few years younger than him ran out to greet him:
"My name is Lu Yi. I am very sorry for the inconvenience caused to Brother Bu in visiting my humble home."

Bu Zhi was not arrogant. He took Lu Yi's hand and walked in with him in a casual manner. "General, I have heard for a long time that the Lu family is a family of loyal and righteous men. I wonder how you address Lord Ji Ning, who fought against Yuan Shu to his death in Lujiang?"

Bu Zhi actually knew the answer to this question, but he pretended to be unfamiliar with the Lu family in order to let Lu Yi speak for himself.

As expected, Lu Yi had to show grief and indignation on his face: “It was my late great-uncle.”

Bu Zhi was very satisfied with this answer: "I came here this time because the General of Chariots and Cavalry had asked me to do so. I have something important to discuss with you and the Lu family."

(End of this chapter)