My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 200 Zhuge Liang's acting skills are still good
Cao Cao captured Yuan Shu on May 15th of the fourth year of Jian'an.

It was on May 18th that he rested and treated the wounded and withdrew his troops back to Xu Du. It was also on this day that he received two urgent reports from Xiahou Yuan.

The first urgent message was relatively not too urgent, so it took four days to get all the way from Pengcheng (the straight-line distance from Pengcheng to Xinyang is only more than 800 miles, but in fact you have to walk along the road, it is impossible to walk in a straight line, the actual mileage can exceed 1,000 miles).

The second letter was much more urgent. It took only two and a half days to deliver, and when it finally arrived, it was only a little over an hour later than the previous one.

Considering that before Chen Deng launched the operation, he had to send someone from Xia Pi to the Cao army camp east of Pengcheng to contact Xiahou Yuan, the first letter sent by Chen Deng would not be later than May 13th at the latest.

In fact, to understand what happened in Xuzhou, we have to go back to early May at least.

……

Two flowers bloom, one branch each.

At the beginning of May, at the northern border of Guangling County, a "military garrison" of about 20,000 people quietly moved from Shouchun and Hefei in the neighboring county of Jiujiang to Huaiyin County.

Seeing this scene, not only would outsiders be surprised, but even the local people in Huaiyin were a little confused.

"Is there going to be another war? Why are so many soldiers being dispatched here?"

"I haven't heard that Lu Bu still has the strength to attack us. Who is he on guard against? Could it be that the General of Chariots and Cavalry is going to attack Lu Bu from both sides?"

Fortunately, this kind of random speculation was dispelled within just one or two days, and the mystery was soon solved: these "military settlers" came to help the people of Guangling County with the "double robbery".

On the third day of May, the magistrate of Huaiyin County informed the villagers: "Everyone, this year is the first time that winter wheat and summer rice are planted in rotation in this county. After the wheat is harvested, we must plant rice immediately. This time is very urgent.

Zhuge Changshi has already summarized the actual production experience of the pilot projects in Sheyang County and Haixi County last year. All wheat must be harvested within three days, and rice seedlings must be planted within five days. If the timing is missed, there is a high probability that no grain will be harvested! At the very least, it will lead to a significant reduction in rice production in late autumn!
Therefore, during this period, it is not enough to rely on local farmers to harvest slowly at the speed of previous years! We must double the manpower! Jiujiang County did not organize the planting of winter wheat last winter, and the rice was just planted this spring, so there is no need to double-steal and plant rice.

Zhuge Changshi specifically asked the governor to dispatch troops from Jiujiang County to reinforce Guangling and Lujiang. All villages must make good contacts. The court will not ask for wages, just provide meals for the wheat harvesters!"

Similar propaganda work was being done in Huaiyin County, and it was also happening in other counties that needed help from outside labor. The local gentry and common people quickly accepted this setting and were no longer surprised.

As the migrant workers helped with the work and were indeed diligent, and only required food, the relationship between the locals and the migrant workers immediately became harmonious.

Some local gentry, out of curiosity, asked these wheat pickers from other places why they were willing to work without asking for wages. The answer they got was "the government has promised that those who come to Guangling and Lujiang to participate in the double harvest and help others farm the land this year can be counted as performing corvée labor for the government and included in the corvée labor period."

The laws of the Han Dynasty have always stipulated that every person must perform corvée labor for the government for at least 20 days each year. For those who serve in other places, if the total travel time is less than half a month, it will not be counted as corvée labor and they must actually work for 20 days.

Moreover, with the coming of troubled times, the actual time that people were forced to serve corvée would only increase, not decrease. In peacetime, Han law also stipulated that those who served corvée for 20 days beyond the deadline could be exempted from the head tax for that year, and those who served for another 20 days could be exempted from the land tax, but in reality, there were many people who served for more than two months, and no one was exempted from the tax.

Liu Bei's policies were considered very benevolent. Cao Cao's farmers often worked for the government for two months every year for free and had to hand over 50% of their grain harvest.

Considering the time and transportation costs, Zhuge Liang did not make too much trouble. Basically, he just temporarily transferred the idle labor force in Shouchun, Yicheng and other places upstream, as well as the garrison under Zhao Yun, to go downstream along the Huaihe River and Feishui River to reinforce the double-season staple food operation area.

In this way, it only takes two or three days to arrive, and not much time is wasted on the road. The busiest days are only seven or eight days, and then there will be some leisure time. After working for twenty days, the surplus labor force can be withdrawn.

Jiujiang was the last county to be conquered by Liu Bei's army last year, and Shouchun was not conquered until September. Winter wheat must be planted in late September or early October, so there was no time to reassure the people, publicize and train new agricultural techniques in the area around Shouchun, and the double crop rotation was skipped last winter.

In contrast, Hefei and the areas to the south had already been recovered by Liu Bei at the end of last autumn and settled well, social order had long been restored, and there was no obstacle to double-season operations. Now that Lujiang and Guangling were busy with farming, it was reasonable to bring some people from Jiujiang over, and no one could find fault with it.

But Zhuge Liang did not keep it secret at all, and did everything openly and generously.

Just three or five days after he transferred part of the garrison troops and military settlements in Shouchun, Cao's army stationed in Qiaodi, Huaibei, on the opposite bank of Jiujiang County, discovered this unusual movement.

Cao's army immediately reported the above situation to Xiahou Dun, who was sent by Cao Cao to be in charge of the garrison in Qiao.

Xiahou Dun was seriously injured when Lü Bu attacked Suiyang in Liangjun, and his arm was broken. Now the fracture has healed. But his arm was comminuted, and during the healing process, the upper arm bone grew a little crooked, so the arm can never bear heavy pressure.

This time Cao Cao asked Xiahou Yuan to attack Lu Bu in Pengcheng, and Xiahou Dun could only support Xiahou Yuan from behind, ensuring the supply of military supplies and replenishing troops at any time. Qiaodi was the old nest of the Cao family, and even the Pei State next to Qiaodi was now defended by Xiahou Dun, which was also a good use of the disabled man.

Xiahou Dun guarded the Huaibei line from Shenxian, Xiangxian, Longkang to Guyang, and was responsible for about 400 miles of the Huaihe River. It was roughly equivalent to Yingshang County in Fuyang, Anhui, and Wuhe County in Bengbu, Anhui. On the other side of Xiahou Dun's bank, he was facing Zhao Yun's defense zone.

So when he heard that Zhao Yun had transferred part of the troops, Xiahou Dun was very alert and sent spies across the Huai River to conduct further investigation.

Zhao Yun allowed Xiahou Dun's spies to investigate, and even showed up in Shouchun and Hefei several times in person to inspect the defense.

Xiahou Dun found that Zhao Yun was still there, and the flags of his elite troops were still in Shouchun and Hefei, so he relaxed his vigilance a little. After a few days, he found out everything: Zhao Yun was just annoyed by his brother-in-law Zhuge Liang, so he had to send some idle personnel to stop training and help harvest crops.

Xiahou Dun did not understand the double-season rotation of rice and wheat, nor did he know what "double harvest" meant.

The agricultural practice of double harvesting, which is used for double-season rice, originally appeared at least in the Song Dynasty, because historically, Champa rice was not available until the Song Dynasty, and then two crops a year began to be planted.

Even the double-cropping of rice and wheat rotation only appeared in parts of Lianghuai during the Tang Dynasty. Now all of this was accomplished by the Zhuge brothers on their own, so Xiahou Dun was of course unfamiliar with it.

In the end, Xiahou Dun only vaguely learned through field investigations by his spies that "Liu Bei has two seasons a year, and he needs to rush to harvest wheat and transplant rice, which is very urgent." As for how it is done specifically, with Xiahou Dun's internal affairs intelligence, it would probably take him a few years of observation before he can figure it out.

However, as long as he could ensure that Zhao Yun did not take any military action, Xiahou Dun would feel relieved.

If Xiahou Dun is relieved, it naturally means that Xiahou Yuan will also be relieved.

Zhuge Liang quietly moved Zhao Yun's 20,000 Huainan garrison troops to the direction of Huaiyin and Lingxian without any flaws or signs of tension.

By the way, it also allows one to complete one's farming tasks better and more smoothly, which is killing two birds with one stone.

The most perfect acting in the world is to combine acting with real tasks. These military settlers went to Huaiyin to help harvest wheat and plant rice.

…May 6th, Huaiyin County.

It was another busy farming day, and Zhuge Liang personally inspected several townships to ensure that the farmers' work was done properly. As for other counties in the surrounding areas, Hu Zhi, Jiang Ji, and Xu Miao also helped him share the work, and everything was organized in an orderly manner.

"Are the fields in this township immediately soaked after wheat harvest? Why does the water level seem so shallow? I have told you many times that the fields should be soaked immediately after wheat harvest in double cropping rotation!

If time is insufficient, pile up the outermost ridges of the plot in advance! Ensure that the water level is higher! Use more water to buy time! Have the irrigation and water diversion of Sheyang Lake and Huaihe River not been repaired enough in the past two years? This is not the time to save water!
Only when the water is soaked thoroughly can the roots of the rice seedlings stretch out and take root deeply when they are planted! If it is not soaked into soft mud, the roots of the rice seedlings will be broken when they are planted, and they will be squeezed together. How can they grow well? "

"Forget it. The field wasn't soaked thoroughly enough. It's too late to fix it now. Soak the rice paddies more thoroughly. Repeatedly irrigate to store water. Make sure the soil is soft and rotten into mud! Ask the farmers to reach deeper when they plant and pull out the seeds! Dig up some of the soil under the roots! Use your hands to protect the seeds when you plant them and plant them deeper! Use the remaining soil on the roots to protect the roots!"

Because this is the first year of large-scale promotion in Huaiyin County, various irregular operations always occur from time to time. Many technical details have been repeatedly explained many times by the agricultural technicians sent by Zhuge Liang, and it is still necessary to demonstrate them step by step when the time comes.

Zhuge Liang himself often took off his boots and walked through the mud to give instructions, and everything was open and aboveboard. Everyone knew that Zhuge Liang was already in a high position, so every time he personally gave instructions on farming, he would be watched by hundreds of common people and gentry.

Even though everyone was very busy with farming, they were reluctant to give up the opportunity to watch and would rather waste time and make up for it by lighting a fire and planting rice in the evening.

Naturally, some of Cao's spies would be mixed in with the crowd and observe all this from afar. After they reported these situations back, Xiahou Dun was also amazed, and so was Xiahou Yuan.

"A subordinate of Liu Bei who has become the chief secretary of the General of Chariots and Cavalry and the counselor of the Governor of Jiangxia, still needs to go to the fields himself to teach the people new farming methods? What's going on? Has Liu Bei resorted to false benevolence and false righteousness to win people's hearts to this extent? Haha, in such a chaotic world, it's useless to win people's hearts!" Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan all thought so and did not take it seriously at all.

On the entire sixth day of the New Year, Zhuge Liang personally visited two townships, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. He corrected many technical errors and encouraged many agricultural technicians to fine-tune production plans. He worked until dark before returning to the county government office.

Just when everyone thought that he was wholeheartedly devoted to encouraging farmers, late at night, a secret envoy from Xia Pi quietly came to the county government office and met Zhuge Liang.

This person's name was Chen Jiao. His original surname was not Chen, but his mother's surname was Chen, and he was a member of the Guangling Chen clan. He was not closely related to Chen Deng and Chen Gui, but they were also from the same clan. In name, he was Chen Deng's distant nephew (because he took his mother's surname, so the nephew and uncle had the same surname).

This Chen Jiao was discovered by Liu Bei when he was recruiting talents at the beginning of last year, which was just a few months later than Jiang Ji and Hu Zhi.

However, Liu Bei did not use him directly, because he knew that he was a distant relative of Chen Deng, so he secretly trained Chen Jiao for a few months, and then let Chen Deng, the governor of Guangling, "discover" him and recruit him as a staff member. In fact, he played the role of a special envoy to help Liu Bei and Chen Deng communicate with each other secretly.

After meeting Zhuge Liang, Chen Jiao immediately showed him a secret letter from Chen Deng, which detailed all his preparations for the uprising in Xia Pi. He wanted to confirm with Zhuge Liang the final date of the uprising and the operational methods.

While the main force of Liu Bei's army was openly attacking Huang Zu in the direction of Jiangxia, Xia Pi was "caught off guard and on a whim" to rise up against Lu and respond to the court. This was something that the Zhuge brothers had discussed with Liu Bei and Chen Deng as early as last year.

According to Chen Deng's original plan, he would have taken action earlier. However, after Zhuge Liang confirmed the progress of Jiangxia's attack and confirmed that Cao Cao was still in Runan, and learned from Chen Deng about Lu Bu's desperate defense of Pengcheng,

He suggested that Chen Deng postpone the action temporarily to ensure that his acting was more realistic, the process of capturing the city was more stable, and that he would not offend Cao Cao immediately after taking Xia Pi.

Zhuge Liang took a quick look at the letter, and out of caution, he did not forget to confirm with Chen Jiao in person: "Has Yuanlong listened to my advice and sent most of the troops that are absolutely loyal to him to Tan County, the capital of Donghai County? And only a small number of loyal followers were left in Xiapi County?
In this way, our army will have a much better chance of taking Tan County as well as the city as soon as possible, which is great."

Chen Jiao nodded, confirming Zhuge Liang's concern, but also said with some worry: "But after such deployment, the troops left by Chen Fujun in Xiapi City may not be as strong as those controlled by Chen Gong and Zhang Liao. At that time, we will definitely need external reinforcements."

Tan County was the seat of Donghai County and a very important place. Like Xia Pi City, it was located on the east bank of the Yishui River. From Xia Pi, going upstream along the Yishui River north for more than 100 miles, you would reach Tan County.

In Chen Deng's original land donation plan, he wanted to ensure that both of these two county seats were captured so that he could confront Cao's army across the Yishui River and the Yimeng Mountains in the future.

Donghai Commandery had eleven counties in total, and Liu Bei had already taken three counties, including the coastal Qu County (Lianyungang). After taking the three counties of Yidong, including Tan County, Cao Cao was left with only five counties of Yixi.

However, Zhuge Liang felt that Chen Deng's initial plan was still not stable enough, because most of the main forces that absolutely listened to Chen Deng were left in Xia Pi. Although this could ensure that Xia Pi was captured 100%, the performance was a bit poor. Moreover, after capturing Xia Pi, they would go north for more than 100 miles to attack Tan County, which might not be captured quickly.

If Xiahou Yuan also arrived with his troops, given Liu Bei's army's current status and diplomatic situation, it would not be appropriate to directly attack Xiahou Yuan.

So Zhuge Liang asked Chen Deng to make some minor adjustments: assign more reliable troops to Tan County to ensure that Tan County could be taken first after the attack.

As for Xia Pi, the lack of troops was not a big problem, because Zhuge Liang had a way to conceal the truth and secretly send Zhao Yun to Huaiyin in advance, or even to Ling County.

As soon as Chen Deng made a move, or even before he made a move, Zhao Yun could march north from Ling County to the outskirts of Xiaxiang. In this way, after Chen Deng made his move, Zhao Yun could enter the area under the jurisdiction of Lu Bu's army, bypass Xiaxiang County and attack Xiapi directly. He only needed to march the distance from Xiaxiang to Xiapi.

It was precisely because of this confidence that Zhuge Liang assured Chen Jiao: "Brother Yuanlong, there is no need to worry about this. When he takes action, I can ensure that General Zilong will have reached the vicinity of Xiaxiang County.

I suggest that Brother Yuanlong should follow the same old routine that Lü Bu used to steal Xiapi three years ago. Don't think about seizing the entire city of Xiapi at the beginning, but concentrate on defending the Baimen Tower at the south gate! As long as Brother Yuanlong can hold on to the time it takes for General Zilong's cavalry to march through a county, once Zilong's cavalry breaks into the Baimen Tower, Chen Gong and Zhang Liao will be unable to make any waves.

Moreover, this deployment has another benefit, which is that it will make all of Cao Cao's hatred in the future be attracted to Chen Gong and Zhang Liao. Cao Cao will also know that we have no choice. If General Zilong does not save Yuanlong in the first place, Yuanlong will be extinguished by Chen Gong and Zhang Liao. "

It was not until the last few days before the uprising that Chen Jiao finally listened to Zhuge Liang's overall considerations. It was also at this moment that he had to admire from the bottom of his heart that Zhuge Liang's plan was indeed better than Chen Deng's original plan, both in terms of seeking stability in gaining actual benefits and in helping Liu Bei's camp to pull away diplomatic hatred.

"In that case, I will go back and report. Please tell me the detailed date and time of the uprising, so that General Zilong can come to reinforce as soon as possible."

"Then let's choose the midnight of the fifth day, that is, the midnight of May 11. I will have General Zilong enter the outskirts of Xiaxiang County after the nightfall of May 11, sneak across the Si River and bypass Xiaxiang County at midnight. So, you just need to guard the White Gate Tower from midnight to dawn, and Zilong's cavalry will arrive.

This requirement is lower than what Xu Dan and Zhang Kuang asked at the beginning. It can't be done, right?"

Three years ago, after Cao Bao was killed, Xu Dan and Zhang Kuang gathered Danyang soldiers to rebel. Under the attack of Zhang Fei, they defended the Baimen Tower for a whole night and waited until dawn when Lu Bu arrived.

Chen Deng's ability today is obviously better than Xu Dan and Zhang Kuang's. Zhang Liao, who is still recovering from his injuries, should not have the same attack power as Zhang Fei back then. It is very reasonable to let him stay up all night until Zhao Yun arrives at dawn.

This can be considered as a way of giving Lu Bu's camp a taste of their own medicine.

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PS: Sorry for getting up late during the National Day holiday, but this update has 5,000 words. I guess everyone hasn't gotten up to read yet, so it doesn't seem to affect anyone.

(End of this chapter)