My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 181 Everyone is vying for Zhuge's magic
The process of getting Wang Lang to hand over military command went more smoothly than Bu Zhi had expected.

In such a chaotic world, it is very difficult for a local lord not to personally interfere in military affairs and micromanagement. Everyone would worry about whether his subordinates would undermine him.

But this time, Wang Lang was really in desperate situation.

He had no trump cards left, only a signboard. Liu Bei not only sent troops to rescue him, but was also his nominal superior. In this situation, of course he had to know his destiny and the current situation.

Wang Lang was already content to be a leisurely civil servant for his whole life.

Of course, although Bu Zhi did not need Wang Lang to interfere in military affairs, there were still many other aspects that required Wang Lang's cooperation.

For example, calling on Han people and Shanyue people to submit and handling daily internal affairs.

On the other hand, Bu Zhi did not forget his original mission, so he asked Wang Lang to write two petitions overnight, one to the court in Xudu and the other to defend Liu Bei. This would also help Liu Bei to get more evidence and gain more righteousness when he went to fight against Sun.

The more humble and innocent Wang Lang's attitude is, the more it will help Liu Bei to win over the hearts of Jiangdong people and disintegrate the will of the resistance. The best thing is that except for the diehard descendants of the Sun family, no one will be willing to follow Sun Ce and Sun Quan in the future, and Liu Bei will be completely stable.

Wang Lang certainly would not refuse this task, but he had no intention of handling the writing work, so he simply roughly stated his logic and left the task of wording polishing to Yu Fan.

……

After Bu Zhi and He Qi took full control of the military affairs in Fujian, there was no conflict over power because they quickly made a clear division of labor:

The people brought by Bu Zhi were responsible for patrolling the sea and intercepting in naval battles, and would mainly attack the logistics of Sun Ce's army in the future.

He Qi was responsible for all land battles, whether it was defending the city or possible mountain battles.

In terms of military strength, He Qi led 6,000 people, including Jin Qi, a Danyang general sent to him by Bu Zhi, as an assistant. He was also secretly monitoring whether He Qi was working hard, but it did not affect He Qi's command authority, so He Qi gladly accepted it.

He Qi was very clear in his mind: from now on, he would no longer be under the direct command of Wang Fujun, but would be the general of the Chariot and Cavalry General and Liu Yangzhou's general! He was responsible for helping the Chariot and Cavalry General to guard the land city in the central Fujian area!
Since he is Liu Bei's man, it is reasonable for Liu Bei to send someone to keep an eye on him.

On the sea, Bu Zhi, Zhang Duo and Lu Yi led more than 2,000 people and 50 speedboats, and were equipped with bows, crossbows, javelins and various long-range weapons. They even allocated some bows, crossbows and arrows from the city defenders' reserves to Bu Zhi. They took the route of elite troops.

In addition, Bu Zhi will also consider recruiting local fishermen in central Fujian to join the army and serve as sailors for the fleet in the next one or two months to ensure a channel for manpower replenishment.

Both sides quickly began to gather the population and reorganize the army according to the plan and division of labor.

However, Dongye County was not big after all, and the original population was not large. As He Qi wanted to concentrate his forces and clear the countryside, contradictions soon emerged.

With the development of Fujian region in the late Han Dynasty, Dongye County was more like a place for the Shanyue tribes to go to market and trade.

The entire county had only a few thousand Han Chinese households, but it governed an area equivalent to most of Fujian Province in later generations, or at least the entire Minjiang River basin.

The Shanyue tribes in the mountains in the middle and upper reaches of the Minjiang River had no ironware, sea salt, or other materials and handicrafts that only the Han people could produce. They had to take a small boat down the river every few months to the county town at the mouth of the Minjiang River to make purchases, and then return to the mountains to live permanently.

There were only about 2,000 farmers in the valley plains at the mouth of the Minjiang River, and the food they produced was barely enough for the people in the city to eat. Occasionally, they needed the coarse grains, vegetables, wild game and wild animals sold by the Shanyue people to supplement their food sources.

After Yu Fan, following Wang Lang's orders, sent letters to friendly tribes to persuade them to move into the city, the food shortage problem was soon exposed.

After He Qi discovered this trend, he had to consult Bu Zhi: "Bu Zhonglang, the method of fortifying the city and clearing the fields is good, which can prevent Sun Yat-sen from being unable to get food from the enemy after his arrival, but our Dongye County is small and does not have enough food.

These Shanyue people usually live in various places in the middle and upper reaches of the Minjiang River. At least they can find narrow places in the river valley to farm, and then supplement their food by collecting mountain products and hunting. After all of them gather in Dongye, there is no time to open up new fields at the mouth of the Minjiang River. I am afraid that in the future, if Sun Yu does not run out of food and retreat, we will starve to death first! "

Fortunately, before Bu Zhi came, he had received instructions from Zhuge Jin and had already made some backup plans for the development of central Fujian.

After listening to He Qi and Yu Fan's complaints, Bu Zhi suddenly had an idea and took out some farming techniques that he had originally planned to use after the war:
"I came to Minzhong this time with the help of General Fubo, so I was prepared. Minzhong used to rely on the mountains for its livelihood, but General Fubo thought it was more suitable to rely on the sea for its livelihood.

Here we have the drift gillnet invented by General Fu Bo and his brother, which is used for towing fishing by two boats at sea, and the bamboo fixed gillnet deployed at the river mouth, which relies on the rise and fall of the tide to catch big fish along the coast.

There are also vessels used in the latest salt-boiling technology in Yancheng County, Guangling County. If you build them according to the method, you can save more than half of the fuel compared to the original salt-boiling method. With the same manpower and firewood consumption, the output of sea salt can be two or three times. With enough sea salt, you can pickle the caught sea fish and store them for a long time.

A few thousand or so households of extra people, relying on the output of the sea, can't it be easily supported? Two years ago in Guangling, General Chariot and Cavalry relied on gillnet fishing and the profits from the large production of sea salt to support tens of thousands of extra refugees! This year, the total number of people supported by the profits from fish and salt in the counties under General Chariot and Cavalry's jurisdiction is probably more than 100,000 households!"

While Bu Zhi was explaining, he very straightforwardly led He Qi and Yu Fan out of the city, to the dock to board the ship, and visited the many production tool samples that Bu Zhi's fleet brought on board.

On the same day, he also demonstrated to He Qi and Yu Fan the installation and use of drift gillnets and bamboo fixed gillnets, as well as the fishing operation process, and let them see the harvest with their own eyes.

Yu Fan knew that this was a serious matter, so before setting sail to observe the demonstration, he used his position as the county magistrate to urgently mobilize hundreds of local fishermen to send as many people as possible on board to observe the demonstration.

At the final harvest, looking at the full basket of sea fish caught, He Qi and Yu Fan were so shocked that they could fit an egg in their mouths and they couldn't close their eyes for a long time.

The degree of shock was definitely more exaggerated than when Liu Bei, Mi Zhu and Sun Qian first watched Zhuge Jin's demonstration.

Yu Fan took a deep breath and held it for a long time, as if he had forgotten to breathe. His face turned red before he suddenly sighed:
"The people of Guangling County actually use such a magical object to catch fish? Was this also the idea of General Fubo? General Fubo was able to build a ship that could fly, and he was also able to come up with a magical tool that could catch more than ten stone of sea fish in one net, and he could also increase the benefits of boiling seawater into salt several times... Could he be the reincarnation of the gods of the four seas?"

The Han Dynasty had not yet accepted the Buddhist concept of the Dragon King, so there was no "East China Sea Dragon King". When the emperor offered sacrifices, he only offered sacrifices to the gods and spirits of the Five Mountains and Four Seas in general.

Bu Zhi felt proud of Yu Fan's naive appearance.

Although this thing was invented by Brother Zi Yu, I am just a setter, responsible for showing it to them and teaching them how to make it.

Even so, Bu Zhi felt that he was creating history and had great merit, just like those who preached the Tao, although they did not invent the Tao themselves, spreading it was also a merit.

Bu Zhi did not dare to forget the strategy of winning people's hearts that Zhuge Jin had pointed out to him before he left, and he quickly added: "Although this thing is magical, we can't make too many in a hurry. Yu Juncheng should mobilize the craftsmen in the army and the idle civilians to concentrate on raising materials and build as many as possible in a short period of time.

When distributing the grain, we should also pay attention to giving priority to the Shanyue tribes who are willing to move down from the mountains to the city and live by the sea. For the tribes that are unwilling to respond to the call of the court, we will distribute it later, distribute less or even not at all.

In this way, the efficiency of our army in gathering the Shanyue people to fortify the city and clear the fields will certainly be greatly improved. Yu Juncheng can also invite the leaders of the Shanyue tribes who know how to fish, hunt, and collect wood to visit the government's fishing methods in advance, so that they can also see the magic of General Fubo. "

Yu Fan nodded repeatedly upon hearing this: "This method is very good! This method is very good! We should indeed invite them to have a look. This is much more convenient than having Captain He lead his troops to search and force each tribe along the Minjiang River! Our speed of clearing the countryside will also be greatly accelerated!"

Bu Zhi reminded him, “Besides, I think these Shanyue people have some stored food. It is already the coldest time of the year, and they need to store food to last until the end of the famine in spring and the beginning of summer.

When we were defending our cities and clearing the fields, we were unable to concentrate the people's stored grain in Dongye County because they were holding back and hiding their surplus grain everywhere for fear of a future shortage of food.

Now, we just need to show the Shanyue people the new fishing nets and let them know that the thousand-mile coastline in central Fujian will definitely not be able to support tens of thousands of fishermen, and they will not starve to death even if they don't farm. In this way, we can induce them to take out their stored grain to trade for production tools, and the surplus grain among the people will be collected on their own initiative. "

Yu Fan thought about this idea again and felt that Bu Zhi's idea was correct. He admired it from the bottom of his heart:
"I heard that Bu Zhonglang was a classmate of General Fubo for half a year? No wonder he is so talented at such a young age. He must have been influenced by the divine wisdom of the princes. If he could be born ten years later and study with General Fubo or Zhuge Changshi for a year or two, he would probably benefit a lot."

After expressing his feelings, Yu Fan did not dare to slack off at all and immediately carried out Bu Zhi's suggestions.

Within a few days, several representatives of the Shanyue tribes in the surrounding Minjiang River basin were captured and taken to the waters near Dongye County at the mouth of the Minjiang River to observe fishing with drift gillnets on sea vessels and the production operations of catching tidal fish with bamboo hard gillnets.

The technology that even shocked Yu Fan was naturally considered miraculous in the eyes of these ignorant and uncultured Shanyue people.

Yu Fan and Bu Zhi took the opportunity to spread the word: "This is the magic fishing method that General Fubo, a genius in the world, figured out in Guangling County! Don't you know the reputation of General Fubo?

Two years ago at Mount Huangshan, the great commander Zu Lang who occupied half of the southern Danyang county was shocked by the secret method of General Fubo's brother ascending to Mount Huangshan, and he led more than 200,000 people from six counties in southern Danyang to surrender!

In Yuzhang County, there were more than 200,000 Shanyue people who were awed by General Fubo's divine ability to find ore and his secret method of turning iron into copper. They regarded him as a god. The local Shanyue people and Han people who had been hiding came out of the mountains and were willing to be registered as ordinary people, only to serve General Fubo in mining and smelting copper, firing kilns and cultivating farmland.

Now, it is rare that General Fu Bo's magical skills are willing to benefit us in central Fujian. First come first served. Whichever tribe voluntarily submits to the king will be given the most profitable tidal fishing section of the river. The government will also teach them how to make nets and how to harvest. We guarantee that you will learn it all!
There is also a method of cooking sea salt that saves more firewood, and it will be taught first to the tribe that surrendered first and most thoroughly! As for the fishing net samples, you need to exchange them for the tribe’s stored food!"

Under such a propaganda offensive, the Shanyue tribes finally flocked to the throne.

"We are willing to surrender first! Please ask Yu Juncheng to give the river beach on the south bank of the Minjiang River to our tribe to set up gill nets!"

"I am also willing to devote my entire clan to defending the city for you! I am also willing to transport all the food in my clan and offer it to Dongye City. I only ask that you give us a few more good fishing boats in the future and send shipbuilders to teach us how to build sea vessels! We will definitely not return to the mountains, but live by the sea and make a living from the sea!"

"How dare we compete with Zu Lang? I heard that Zu Lang is the top commander in the Shanyue in the north. Even he was persuaded to surrender by Brother Zhuge. How dare we fight him?"

"Yes, yes. Although we have never seen the world, we have heard of the tribal legends in southern Jiangxi about the kindness of Lord Zhuge/General Zhuge/Chief Zhuge. As long as the magic tricks are thought up by the Zhuge family, it is definitely not a problem for the people in the area to have enough food to eat!"

"I've also heard that many tribes in southern Jiangxi have replaced the mountain gods and land gods they used to worship with the tablet of Lord Zhuge."

In the following half month, He Qi was stunned to see that almost every two or three days, a small Shanyue tribe came out of the mountains to seek refuge. The larger ones had over a thousand households, and the smaller ones had hundreds of households. It was much faster than when he sent troops into the mountains to search and capture.

Bu Zhonglang took out his senior brother Zhuge Jin's three magic weapons for making the sea people rich, and unexpectedly seduced seven or eight thousand households of mountain people to obey his orders. And this was only the result of more than half a month. If there was enough time, I am afraid that more people would accept the registration of all people and embrace advanced productivity.

The food shortage in Dongye County was also quickly resolved. As everyone no longer worried about not being able to catch fish in the future, their expectations for productivity development changed, and they were no longer so eager to stockpile food.

Many tribes transported their stored grain by small boats along the Minjiang River to Dongye City at the river mouth and sold them to the government in exchange for production technology.

In addition to the frantic fishing and salt boiling over the past half month to increase reserves, by the beginning of the first lunar month, the food and salted fish stored in Dongye were enough for the garrison and the people to eat until the summer.

After Dongye showed some improvement, Wang Lang did not forget to ask Yu Fan to go to Houguan County at the mouth of the Jinjiang River to promote the new productivity tools, which also attracted a wave of Shanyue tribesmen who voluntarily came down from the mountains to register as common people.

And just as Wang Lang and Yu Fan were gradually governing central Fujian and gaining the support of the people, what was to come still had to come.

On the ninth day of the first lunar month, Lu Yi, who had been in charge of patrolling the offshore waterways recently, suddenly sent out a speedboat patrol boat to report that he had discovered that Sun Ce's fleet had arrived in Dong'ou (Wenzhou) and was about to make a final stop in Dong'ou for rest and then head straight for Dongye.

Judging from the size of Sun Ce's fleet that he had detected, he estimated that he had mobilized an army of more than 10,000 or 20,000 people! There were at least 700 to 800 large warships, and a few even larger warships.

Of course, this number does not only include the number of combat soldiers, but also includes sailors and auxiliary soldiers who drive ships and transport grain.

Upon learning that Sun Ce had finally come to attack, Wang Lang naturally felt like he was facing a formidable enemy. Fortunately, he had already handed over the military power to He Qi and Bu Zhi respectively, so there was nothing for him to do personally.

He Qi and Bu Zhi had a final discussion and immediately made task assignments.

He Qi led the main force to defend Dongye County, gathered all the population and materials back to the city, and temporarily stopped production, even if it meant delaying spring plowing.

Anyway, the population in central Fujian is not large, and there is no need to worry about the hot weather delaying the farming season, so crops can still be grown even if farming is started later.

Now that we have new fishing technology, we can always have a source of food even if we don’t have to farm for the time being. At worst, we can eat fish for every meal in the second half of this year.

On Bu Zhi's side, he stationed 3,000 naval forces and 50 fast warships on a small island slightly away from the main channel outside the mouth of the Minjiang River and set up a water fort.

That unnamed island still has no name today, but it is roughly equivalent to the Matsu Island off the coast of Fuzhou in later generations.

After He Qi and Bu Zhi made their preparations, two or three days later, Sun Ce finally led the army in person, marched to the outskirts of Dongye City, went straight into the Minjiang River, landed and set up camp, preparing to attack the city.

(End of this chapter)