My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 26: Guangling Tide on August

People in later generations all know: The Qiantang River tide on August 18th is famous all over the world.

But most people don’t know that from the pre-Qin period to the modern times, due to the Coriolis force and the extension of silt deposits at estuaries, the location where high tides occur along the coast of the East China Sea has been slowly moving southward.

During the Pre-Qin and Han Dynasties, tides prevailed in Guangling (Yangzhou).

It flourished in Wu County (Suzhou) during the Wei, Jin and Six Dynasties.

After the Tang and Song Dynasties, it flourished in Qiantang (Hangzhou).

In the era when Zhuge Jin lives in, the place where the largest tide in the East China Sea occurs happens to be in this Guangling city.

Mei Cheng, a famous fu writer from Guangling during the reign of Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing of the Western Han Dynasty, wrote a fu praising the Guangling tide: "There are always huge waves on the first and fifteenth days of spring and autumn, with terrifying and magnificent sounds. When they reach the north of the Yangtze River and hit the red bank, they are particularly swift and fierce."

The name of Mei Cheng's fu prose was also very famous at that time, and he was mentioned together with Jia Yi and Sima Xiangru.

As for why he is less well-known than Jia Yi and Sima Xiangru, it is mainly because he was from Guangling, which belonged to the Wu Kingdom in the early Han Dynasty and served Wu King Liu Bi, who later launched the Seven Kingdoms Rebellion.

Liu Bei had been in Xuzhou for less than two years, and had never been to Guangling City or seen the Guangling tide.

Today happened to be August 18th, the highest tide day of the year, so I went with Zhuge Jin to watch the grand spectacle at the mouth of the Hangou River.

By the way, let's wait until the tide goes out to see how many fish Zhuge Jin's latest improved version of the drift net can catch.

Isn’t it wonderful?

However, waiting for the tide was too boring, so Liu Bei continued to ask Zhuge Jin for advice on the improvement of the drifting barbed wire net.

Zhuge Jin had nothing to do, so he explained it slowly.

He first showed the first bamboo drift net to Liu Bei. Liu Bei was an outsider and could not see the clue at first glance.
Then I compared it with the second version and found that the bamboo strips in the first version were arranged with the wide side parallel to the direction of the net extension, while the second version arranged the bamboo strips vertically with the side facing the direction of the water flow.

This principle is easy to understand, and Liu Bei himself understood it.

Obviously, the first version must have too much resistance when it was put underwater and washed by water, and the water-facing area was too wide, so it was easily washed away. The second version put the thin side facing the water flow, which could separate the water force and was much more stable.

Then Liu Bei looked at the third version. Based on the second version, he added holes at the bottom to hang hemp ropes and tied large stones to further prevent it from being washed away.

But the third version was apparently still not good enough. Zhuge Jin said that after he conducted experiments, he found that although the stones tied to the bottom would not be washed away, they would still be tilted and no longer face the water flow directly, so the cross-sectional area that blocked fish and pierced fish became much smaller.

So in the final fourth version, he added an extra complete and waterproof hollow bamboo to the top of the bamboo net, and used the hollow bamboo tube as a buoy to ensure that after the tide passed, the buoyancy would always pull this end upwards.

In this way, with a net in the middle, a buoy on top and a big stone at the bottom, the upper and lower positions are completely stable. Even if it goes astray, it can automatically return to the right position as long as there is buoyancy.

Zhuge Jin actually didn't know how to build a drifting thorn net before, he only knew the concept.

But since he has strong logical thinking and great imagination and deduction of spatial geometry, he finally figured it out in about ten days and a few experiments.

Liu Bei originally thought that the final product was amazing, but after seeing Zhuge Jin's "research and development process" and so many intermediate iterative versions, he finally believed that Zhuge Jin's way of thinking was far more amazing than the results themselves.

He definitely didn't rely on a flash of inspiration or learn it from somewhere else.

He really has a good brain, can see the big picture from small details, and can immediately take steps to solve problems when encountering them.

"With just a small bamboo net, they were able to create the fourth generation in just a few days. Each generation was slightly improved. Their intelligence is so agile that it is rare in ancient and modern times."

As Liu Bei was sighing with emotion, he heard rumbling thunder in the distance. He looked up at the sky in surprise, only to see that although the weather was cloudy, there was no thunderstorm.

Soon after the servant's explanation, he learned that it was not thunder but the sound of the tide.

Liu Bei was also startled, as if there was a sudden change in the wind and thunder, and he sat upright with a solemn expression, ready to admire the wonders of the world.

Zhuge Jin didn't find it strange. He had seen many big tides when he was studying and working in the provincial capital in his previous life.

But the solemn expressions of others also infected him, so he also showed some awe for nature.

Soon, a tide appeared in the distance, rolling upstream from the direction of Hailing, and actually pushed back the natural flow of the surging Yangtze River.

Especially when the crests of the river waves collide with the counter-tide, a shock wave with superimposed crests is formed, which can rise into the sky in an instant and then suddenly dissipate, which amazed a group of outsiders from the inland.

Liu Bei didn't read poetry, and at this moment he could only feel "Wow" in his heart.
Sun Qian was the one who read the most poems and fu among the group. He couldn't help but recite a few passages from Mei Cheng's "Guangling Tide Fu" and Wang Chong's fu of this dynasty (Eastern Han Dynasty).

Liu Bei couldn't help curling his lips after hearing this: "What is there to chant about the ancients' poems? Gongyou is in a refined mood, so you can write one yourself."

Sun Qian quickly apologized with a smile: "I am not very talented and well-educated. It would be embarrassing to write something like this, considering the great work of Mei Gong." Liu Bei was a little dissatisfied: "Can the writing of Mei Gong be as good as Zi Yu's?"

Zhuge Jin, who was standing next to him, never expected that this would lead to him getting into trouble, and quickly hinted: First of all, I didn't provoke anyone...

Liu Bei said, "I know that a man of extraordinary intelligence is good at one thing and knows a hundred things. Poetry is a minor art, and perhaps Ziyu would not bother to study it in depth. But with your intelligence, even if you just compose a few lines, it will definitely not be bad, and it can be regarded as a visit here. If I could chant, I would be able to come up with a few lines, but unfortunately I can't do it at all."

Zhuge Jin originally refused to be a plagiarist because he thought it was pointless to pretend to be famous. He also didn't need to be famous among the general public. Those things were of no value to him and prevented him from keeping a low profile.

But after hearing Liu Bei's sincere words, he also knew that Liu Bei was not being sarcastic, but he really felt that "What a pity, I am uneducated, I can only say 'fuck' to get around the world", and wanted to find some appropriate words to vent his emotion.

In this case, Zhuge Jin had an idea: "Since the general has a lot of grievances in his heart that he cannot express, and sees a magnificent scene but does not know how to describe it, I will just compose a few lines. However, since it is a poem, I have to add some color to it."

Liu Bei was stunned, and then overjoyed.

Zhuge Jin had always been a guest official, standing apart from the crowd. He had helped so much, but Liu Bei had never been able to repay him. It was rare that Zhuge Jin actually opened his mouth to negotiate with him, so Liu Bei was of course eager to return the favor:

"Oh, sir, you are omnipotent, can you still use me? Just ask!"

Zhuge Jin just made a small fuss, called the people sent by Mi Zhu, and said to Liu Bei: "This brother Tang and the others beside him are all good at sailing on the river. Zi Zhong temporarily assigned them to me, and brought 300 guards and sailors.

Jin asked the general a favor: I will compose a song for the Guangling tide later. If the general is satisfied, let Zi Zhong formally transfer these 300 people, their boats, and farms to me.

I am not greedy for money, but after the matter here is settled, I need some free manpower to go to Yuzhang, Jiangxia, Xiangyang and other places to conduct open and secret investigations to find out the latest situation of my uncle and brothers.

The general also knows that my uncle was persecuted by Zuo Rong and Zhu Hao last year. Now we only know that he was defeated and retreated westward, but we don’t know the specific news. We have to investigate slowly. Guangling has been in trouble recently, and I dare not borrow the general’s troops to deal with family affairs. "

Of course, Liu Bei didn't wait for him to finish, and immediately said that all of these were passed on to Zhuge Jin. He would personally talk to Mi Zhu about it, even if it was a loan that was turned into a gift.

Seeing that he agreed readily, Zhuge Jin said, "Okay, then my poem is worth three hundred guards. Since we've already played the game, why not set a prize for this stinging net method as well?"

After watching the tide and putting down the bamboo nets, I bet that these two hundred nets can catch more than 20,000 kilograms of fish when we collect the nets at night, which means 100 kilograms per net.

If you can't do it, my method of floating barbed net will be given to the general for nothing. But if you can do it, I can also alleviate the urgent need for food in Guangling. Then I have another request:
In the future, when Tang Guang and his men find out the whereabouts of my uncle, if the situation is critical, I will ask the general to lend me several thousand soldiers and military supplies for a period of several months to cross the river and rescue my uncle."

Without further ado, Liu Bei agreed again: "This is what I deserve. If it weren't for Ziyu's plan, most of our 10,000-plus troops would have fled or become dead bones in a grave. When Huaiyin was besieged and Xiapi was robbed, how desperate was our army's situation?
"It is all thanks to Tzuyu that I am able to survive today. So even if this bamboo net doesn't catch any fish, as long as I can find out the exact whereabouts of your uncle and that he is in danger, I will lend you troops. But if that happens, the military supplies cannot be guaranteed, and Tzuyu will have to raise them himself."

When Liu Bei talked to him, he was completely open and honest, without any reservations.

Just tell him the truth: If you can't help me catch fish, I will lend you soldiers, but not rations, because I will starve to death. If you can still help me catch a lot of fish, so that my soldiers don't starve to death, then I will lend you soldiers and give you rations.

This makes sense.

"happy."

The other party was straightforward, so Zhuge Jin also followed suit and shamelessly ordered the others: "Pen!"

Unfortunately, no one brought pen and paper with them when they were sightseeing outdoors, which made the scene awkward.

Seeing this, Liu Bei quickly drew out one of his double-edged swords and lent it to Zhuge Jin, pointing to the riverbank nearby:

"Why not carve it on the riverbank with a sword? Don't worry about whether it looks good or not. Then you can copy it carefully later."

Zhuge Jin looked around and found that there was indeed no better solution, so he took the sword and drew a crooked line on the sand:
"When the thunder roared within a hundred miles, the strings were temporarily suspended.

A group of people rode out of the palace to watch the tide on the river.

The autumn clouds are vast and shining in the sun; the East China Sea is vast and floating in the sky.

The waves are like snow, and I feel cold as soon as I sit down."

This was a poem written by an ancient poet in the Tang Dynasty, which he had seen when he went to Wangjiang Tower to watch the tide during his years in the provincial capital in his previous life. It was written by Meng Haoran.

Now I can only say sorry to Lao Meng and change the place name slightly. Everything related to Qiantang can be changed to Guangling, and then it can be used.

"What a good poem, a really good poem." Liu Bei didn't understand grammar, but seeing that it was catchy, quite in line with the five-character Han Dynasty folk songs, and very powerful, he thought it was very good, and immediately followed suit by reading aloud.

After Zhuge Jin finished writing, he put down his sword and reminded the others: "Don't write poems anymore, the tide has reached its peak, hurry up and sink these bamboo nets while the water is at its highest!

Also, please do not announce that I wrote this song for the time being. My reputation is too great to travel around to look for my uncle and brother, and I may be targeted by bad guys."

Zhuge Jin knew that he would have many missions traveling far away in the future, so it would be better for him to keep a low profile for the time being, which would be beneficial to his life safety.

(End of this chapter)