My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 311 Roadmap to Reviving Han

"Mr. George, it's not easy to come from afar. You must be here to ask for help from nephew Yuan, right? Brother Benchu and I are both following the imperial edict to fight the enemy. We should work together, but we regret that the southern land has not been pacified yet and there is a slight delay.

Alas, since Brother Benchu was defeated in the Battle of Guandu last year, I thought that Brother Benchu would need to rest and recuperate this year, so I was not ready to respond immediately. I always felt that Brother Benchu would contact me in advance before taking action again, so it would not be too late to prepare then.

Who knows why Brother Benchu was so hasty and blindly mobilized his troops without contacting me? Could it be that there are other flatterers around him who have doubted my loyalty to the king?"

As soon as Liu Bei saw Xin Pi, he patted the other's hand on the back and spoke a lot of righteous words in a serious and earnest manner. He was the first to complain that Yuan Shao did not inform him before launching the troops at Cangting, thus missing the opportunity to join forces between the north and the south.

This made Xin Pi feel very ashamed. Many of the polite words he could have said were blocked before he had the chance to say them.

It is not known whether Liu Bei himself had such a high EQ that he was able to take the initiative to stop the conversation invisibly, or whether Zhuge Liang had already taught him how to speak before Xin Pi arrived.

This situation was really unsolvable for Xin Pi. Even though he followed Zhuge Jin every day along the way and was sure that Zhuge Jin did not play any tricks again, there was still Zhuge Liang by Liu Bei's side. It was like a dragnet that was impeccable.

In the end, Xin Pi could only help Yuan Shao admit his mistake, admitting that Yuan Shao was a mean person who judged others by his own standards. He even had to hint that "the reason why Yuan Shao was unwilling to discuss in advance was to sneak attack Cao Cao while Liu Bei and Liu Biao were entangled by Cao Cao and were off guard. If he had discussed it, he would have missed the opportunity to steal."

After hearing what Xin Pi said, Liu Bei understood in his heart that Xin Pi had been reformed well along the way and had been won over to a considerable extent. It was estimated that if he made some more efforts, he could make him an insider or a "supervisor of the use of military aid."

Liu Bei was not impatient at the moment. He led the delegation back to Wuchang City, hosted a banquet and offered various courtesies, and then discussed business in a few days.

By the way, we can also take advantage of these few days of rest to let the delegation visit the current military production capacity of Liu Bei's camp (but we must keep those technologies confidential and hide those technical aspects that are easy to steal at a glance).

Let Xin Pi go back and tell Yuan Tan to broaden his horizons, which made Yuan Tan even more reluctant to give up Liu Shu's military aid, and thus he got deeper and deeper into trouble.

This feeling is just like when Americans in World War II invited envoys from Allied countries who came to the United States to beg for arms to visit the "Min Z Arsenal".

……

There is no need to mention the specific details of the reception banquet that day.

Starting from the next day, naturally, someone else took Xin Pi to visit and open his eyes. Liu Bei arranged Xiang Lang, who had just been transferred to be the magistrate of E County, to be in charge of this work.

As for Liu Bei himself, of course he had to have a good talk with Zhuge Jin, whom he had not seen for a long time, and ask Zhuge Jin about his specific ideas on how to assist Yuan Tan and why he made such arrangements.

Zhuge Jin went to Jiangdong after defeating Huang Zu the year before last. It has been more than a year and a half since he met Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang.

Since the outbreak of the Yidaizhao Incident, Liu Bei's original feeling of being led by the nose and suppressed by Cao Cao was swept away. Then, for more than a year, he devoted himself to eliminating Zhang Xian and Sun Ce, the two rebellious wings who obeyed Cao Cao's orders.

With the demise of Zhang Xian and Sun Ce, Liu Bei suddenly felt a little empty. On the one hand, he needed to digest the new territory and recuperate, and he really couldn't afford the Northern Expedition this year. On the other hand, he also knew that the Zhuge brothers had repeatedly advised him not to make wedding clothes for Yuan Shao. Liu Bei was a little confused for the time being, not knowing what else to do in the next two years besides recuperating.

After hearing that Yuan Shao was seriously ill, Liu Bei expected Yuan Tan to be a puppet of him, but he always felt uneasy and thought that this possibility should not be so great. He always wanted to have more initiative.

All of this needs to be discussed earnestly with Zhuge Jin face to face.

Early in the morning of that day, Liu Bei had people set out wine and fruits in the pavilion at the edge of Parrot Island outside the city of Wuchang, which was built to commemorate the killing of Ni Heng by Huang Zu.

It was the eighth month of the lunar calendar, and the weather was clear and crisp, but not too cold, so four couches were set up in the pavilion. Liu Bei sat at the top, Zhuge Jin sat opposite him, and Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong sat sideways on both sides. There were no outsiders in the other pavilions.

Even the maids were not allowed to come over to serve and pour wine. Liu Bei and others did it themselves. Only occasionally when the dishes were served did the maids come over.

Liu Bei naturally would not be polite to Zhuge Jin. After three rounds of drinks, he asked him directly and sincerely, "I have never doubted Ziyu's strategy, but this time he only provided military aid to Yuan Tan instead of directly going to war with Cao Cao. There are some tricks that are hard to figure out for the time being.

Jiangnan has been pacified. Maybe we shouldn't go to war with Cao Cao this year, but what about next year? Will it damage our army's loyalty to the king? Moreover, although giving the weapons to Yuan Tan can help our army to only provide supplies and reduce the loss of lives, I'm afraid that we can't completely control how Yuan Tan uses them, even if we send someone to supervise.

If Yuan Tan's troops are weak and not as steadfast as ours, and surrender to Cao Cao in droves when the situation is unfavorable, wouldn't that be helping the enemy? Moreover, Yuan Shao is only seriously ill so far. If he forcibly requisitions Yuan Tan's military equipment and troops in the name of father and son and uses them elsewhere, how can we stop him? Even if Yuan Tan agrees to our conditions, he will not be able to fight against Yuan Shao in the end."

Zhuge Jin listened quietly and did not rush to answer. Instead, he put down his wine glass and looked at Zhuge Liang: "Aliang, can't you answer these questions for the lord?" Zhuge Liang put down his feather fan and said solemnly: "I can answer one or two of them, but the lord still wants more confirmation. For the last question, even I dare not guarantee it."

Zhuge Jin nodded then, and the last question was about Yuan Shao's control over Yuan Tan, which involved the time traveler's prophecy about Yuan Shao's illness.

Zhuge Liang was not a time traveler, so he could not guarantee that Yuan Shao would die from his illness this time, and he could not give an answer. This was not due to a lack of human intelligence, but rather depended on God's will.

In this case, Zhuge Jin didn't care how many answers A Liang had already given, he would just give them all again.

He cleared his throat and spoke eloquently, "My lord, you are worried that if we don't go to war with Cao Cao formally next year, it will affect our righteousness. I think this is nothing to worry about. We have already raised the banner of anti-Cao, but we have not yet fought with real swords and guns.

As long as we maintain this posture and do not launch the attack first, we can make Cao Cao relax against us and not put the main force on the southern front. Cao Cao does not want to establish a big enemy on both the north and south sides at the same time. The Lianghuai front stretches for thousands of miles. As long as we can maintain a low alert intensity, we can spend less money, food, materials and manpower.

Moreover, once Cao Cao's southern line is empty and gives us an opportunity to take advantage of it, we can also adapt to the situation at any time, use Yuan Tan's name to rub against Cao Cao, and gradually weaken him. As long as we control the intensity and the cause of the friction, and make Cao Cao believe that the war will not escalate, we may be able to achieve "let Cao Cao suffer a little loss but still endure it, and still put the overall situation of Yuan Tan first". In this way, we can spend the least cost, make the greatest progress, and try to let friendly forces still share more pressure.

Finally, Cao Cao's land lacks development potential, and the plains are already sufficient for arable land. However, the south is underdeveloped. The counties previously occupied by Zhang Xian and Sun Ce can be governed slightly with our methods, and the scale of grain production and conscription can be greatly improved by investigating the Shanyue, hidden households, and escaped people.

If we can come up with a major breakthrough in farming techniques like the rice-wheat rotation in Huainan, then it is not impossible to increase the money and grain of several counties in the south in the next few years. Anyway, time is on our side. If there is an opportunity, we will seize it decisively, and if there is no opportunity, we will develop ourselves and wait for change. "

After hearing these explanations, Liu Bei confirmed what Zhuge Liang had said, and felt relieved. He then quickly asked:

"If this is really possible, we can control the situation and prevent Cao Cao from regarding us as the main enemy, and we can also seize the opportunity to weaken him while strengthening ourselves. That would be great. But how can we achieve this specifically?

What I just said, "If the South can rectify farming and learn the rice-wheat rotation method of Huainan, it can increase the manpower and grain of several counties out of thin air," seems a bit unbelievable. "

Zhuge Jin was confident in answering these two questions, and said with certainty: "Creating limited friction and waiting for an opportunity to weaken Cao Cao cannot be generalized. We must always be prepared and adapt to circumstances. As for the second question, I think it may be possible to achieve it by allocating a small amount of energy next year to explore the southern part of Jiaozhi by sea, or to march south to Jiaozhi Shi Xie.

Firstly, although Shi Xie is not a big threat, if we can allocate some combat power to intimidate and conquer him without affecting our army's ability to wait for an opportunity to strike against Cao Cao, then we can at least solve the threat to our south forever.

As long as Cao Cao sees that we have not yet attacked Huaibei, he will certainly feel guilty and may take the initiative to find something for us to do. He may issue an imperial edict to Shi Xie, giving him a high position and a prestigious title, just like he did to Zhang Xian and Sun Ce.

The official position that Shi Xie had been granted by the court before was only the governor of Jiaozhi. He relied on his four brothers, who were governors of various counties in the south, to actually control the vast land from Jiaozhi to Nanhai County. Therefore, Shi Xie had always wanted to upgrade the Jiaozhi Provincial Administration to Jiaozhou and make himself the governor of Jiaozhou.

If Cao Cao promoted Shi Xie to this position, and actually established Jiaozhou Governor, and then provided him with the news that "Yuan Shao is dead and Jizhou has been acquired by Cao Cao", Shi Xie would definitely think that Cao Cao would eventually gain the world.

Shi Xie, relying on the remoteness of the Five Ridges and the miasma of the southern border, will certainly dare to respond to Cao Cao and close the pass to cut off the Five Ridges. At that time, we can use the excuse that Shi Xie received a false order from Cao Cao as a legitimate reason to attack him. As long as we do not officially go to war with Cao Cao, Cao Cao will certainly choose to sit back and watch Shi Xie contain us alone, while he himself takes the opportunity to conquer You and Bing. "

Liu Bei listened very patiently, and gradually felt that what Zhuge Jin said was somewhat feasible, but he was still a little anxious, and interrupted and asked again: "If there is really a righteous cause and we want to eliminate Shi Xie at the same time, it won't take up much manpower and time. But Jiaozhi is desolate and sparsely populated. How can it help what you just said?"

Regarding this question, Zhuge Jin could only throw out some answers that only time travelers would know: "Whether or not to conquer Jiaozhi, both positive and negative, it can only free up 10,000 or 20,000 troops for our army, and the benefit is really not great.

But when I was in Langya in my early years, I read my father's notes, which recorded the local conditions and products of the world. It mentioned that Jiaozhi was hot and had no winter, and rice could be grown all year round, with two harvests a year being common. In the southern Linyi area, rice grew fast and could be harvested three times a year. Even if it moved to the north, it could still be harvested twice a year.

Now in Huainan, we have promoted the method of raising rice seedlings in small fields and transplanting rice seedlings in large fields, which can save rice more than two months of field growth time. If we can move rice seeds from the south and combine them with the method of transplanting rice seedlings, we may be able to achieve two crops a year in Jiangdong and Jingnan.

In this way, Huainan has one crop of rice and one crop of wheat every year, and Jiangnan has two crops of rice every year. Wouldn't that mean that the grain production of the counties in Jiangdong has increased by half out of thin air? Of course, if this thing is to be promoted, it may take several years of breeding, reproduction, persuasion and teaching the people.

When the lord promoted rice-wheat rotation in Huainan, only Sheyang and Haixi counties were piloted in the first year. In the second year, it was promoted to most of Guangling, and in the third year it was promoted to Lujiang and Jiujiang.

Jiangnan is several times larger than Huainan, and its terrain is fragmented and its plains are scattered. So even if everything goes well, it would be unlikely to promote double-season rice in most parts of Jiangnan within four years. It would take at least five years.

Since there are so many benefits, why don't you give it a try, anyway, dealing with Shi Xie doesn't require too many resources. If it doesn't develop to the point where it is necessary to resort to military action, it is also possible to sail to Linyi with a small army and obtain high-quality rice seeds through trade.

That way the cost will be lower, but the benefits may be achieved more slowly. In short, everything can be changed according to the situation in the next two years, and it is possible to use both civil and military means, so it is difficult to make a conclusion now. "

(End of this chapter)