My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 316 How difficult is it to escape from someone targeted by Liu Bei

When Xin Pi traveled south from Qingzhou, the total time he spent on the journey was only about twenty days, not counting the delays he suffered in Danyang and Wujun.

The return journey would be much slower, because he was no longer traveling alone on horseback, but had to march all the way with Taishi Ci's military aid transport team. Just the journey along the north coast after leaving the Yangtze River estuary would take more than half a month.

Xin Pi bid farewell to Liu Bei in late August, and it is estimated that he would not be able to return to Qingzhou until at least the end of September or even early October. By then, Yuan Tan's resistance in Bohai County would probably have been quite difficult.

Cao's army will maintain the offensive in Hebei throughout August and September, which will not only help Cao Cao gain more land in Jizhou, but also force Yuan Tan to get closer to Liu Bei, so Liu Bei does not need to rush.

……

On the other hand, during the more than one month that Xin Pi was traveling in a hurry, Zhuge Jin, who had finally made the trip to Jiangxia, was not in a hurry to return to Danyang immediately.

He and his second brother Aliang are now in charge of different states respectively. They seldom have the opportunity to meet each other, and they seldom return to the central government to report on their work.

This time when I came back, I would definitely take the opportunity to manage Liu Bei, and by the way, I would discuss with my second brother some of the difficult and complicated issues in local government affairs. By the way, I would also take a vacation under this name.

Two days before seeing off Xin Pi, when Zhuge Liang was listening to Xiang Lang's report, Xiang Lang mentioned that the black powder test at the E County Arsenal was not going smoothly. Currently, they could only produce gunpowder that could burn in an airless environment, but could not explode/deflagrate.

Now that Zhuge Jin is here, he will also lend a hand on this matter and see if the progress can be speeded up a little.

The first problem that came to his mind was that the ratio of nitrate, sulfur and charcoal might be incorrect. For example, if too much charcoal was added, it would cause slow combustion. So he encouraged the experimenters under Zhuge Liang to try more ratios.

In addition, as a modern person, Zhuge Jin also knows some common sense. For example, he knows that the key to the good deflagration and explosion effect of future gunpowder is the granulation of gunpowder.

But Zhuge Jin was an educator in his previous life, so he could only talk about it on paper. How to granulate it? What kind of adhesive should be used to stick the three materials together in precise proportions? He didn't understand these practical things.

This is also the sadness of teachers, there is only pure theory in the air.

As for the benefits of granulation, he could understand the principle - it was nothing more than hoping that the ratio of nitrate, sulfur and charcoal would be just perfect in every local area.

Otherwise, the overall ratio is perfect, but the mixing is not sufficient and uniform enough. For example, if there is more saltpeter on the left side of a ball of gunpowder than on the right side, the intensity and speed of the reaction will still be reduced.

So all he could do was to discuss these principles with his second brother, inspire his thinking, deepen his understanding, and then let his second brother find ways to implement them himself.

Zhuge Liang spent several days studying his elder brother's theoretical conjectures, but he could not come up with any ideas for the experiment.

He just made a quick assessment and realized that this matter would definitely not be accomplished this year, and might not be accomplished next year either.

This meant that the work on Lai Gong and Wu Ju had to proceed according to the alternative plan that Zhuge Liang mentioned that day.

After realizing this, Zhuge Liang found an opportunity one day in early September to advise Liu Bei about this matter.

Zhuge Liang's speech was well-organized and well-thought-out: "My Lord, there has been no progress on the 'gunpowder' that I reported to you in the first half of the year. But now that the weather has turned cooler and the autumn harvest is about to be completed, it is a good opportunity for the counties in southern Jing, especially Lingling and Guiyang in the southernmost part, to recruit corvée labor during the winter farming off-season, so we can't wait.

I suggest writing to Lingling Governor Lai Gong immediately, explaining the pros and cons, and asking him to recruit corvée labor this winter to repair the Lingqu sluice gates left over from the pre-Qin period, and then dredge key river sections when the water level is lowest in winter. This will improve the southern border defense and guard against Shi Xie. It will also improve the water transportation in Lingling, so that when he pays tribute to Liu Biao in the future, the transportation losses will be reduced.

If Lai Gong feels that he has been in Lingling for less than a year and needs to rest and recuperate, we can also provide him with some money and let him buy surplus grain from the local wealthy families in Lingling to provide food for the corvée laborers. In this way, even if we have to recruit an extra month or two of corvée labor this winter, the local people will be happy to contribute. "

When Liu Bei heard this, he was a little surprised - mainly because in his impression, Zhuge Liang never failed to come up with something in more than a year or two. It seemed that the "gunpowder" this time was really a difficult problem, so let's put it aside for now.

Later, Liu Bei also realized that the solution given by Zhuge Liang was already the best solution. In this case, he would execute it according to the plan.

In the Han Dynasty, corvée was generally not imposed for more than two months a year. If it was in the north, in a single-season crop-growing area, where there were only busy farming seasons in spring and autumn, corvée was imposed in winter and summer. If it was too cold, corvée was imposed for a longer period in the summer and a shorter period in the winter.

However, the climate in southern Jing, especially Lingling, is special. The summer is too hot and the hills are densely wooded. Every year, Lingling concentrates its corvée labor in the winter.

Otherwise, when the weather is hot, too many people will work together, and it will be easy for plague to spread. If you miss the winter, you will have to wait until the next year.

"In that case, you will be in charge of this matter. You can have someone write the persuasive letter to Lai Gong and directly use the seal of the General of Chariots and Cavalry's Mansion. I will send someone who is reliable and eloquent to deliver it."

……

After Liu Bei agreed, the matter was carried out in an orderly manner.

Ten days later, the letter reached the hands of Li Yan, the deputy Liu Bei assigned to Lai Gong and the Lingling County Magistrate. Over the past six months, Li Yan had been helping Lai Gong deal with many specific internal affairs of Lingling County.

He and Wuling County Magistrate Dong He were both Lai Gong and Wu Ju, who were sent by Liu Bei to sideline Liu Biao.

However, Liu Bei's ability to win people's hearts was also extraordinary. After observing the performance of Lai Gong and Wu Ju, he gradually hinted to Li Yan and Dong He to gradually delegate power and allow the prefects to participate more in specific affairs.

And the reason was very justified: "When the prefect first arrived, he was not familiar with the local situation, so of course he had to ask the county magistrate who had worked in the local area for many years to help him more to avoid making mistakes. When the prefect became familiar with the work, of course the power that should be returned should be returned."

Of course Liu Bei himself would be able to control the specific rhythm and scale of delegating and retaining power.

With Liu Bei's reputation, prestige, and emotional intelligence, he was the most professional in controlling his subordinates and winning their hearts, so Zhuge Liang didn't have to worry about it.

Therefore, over the past six months, Lai Gong and Wu Ju were no longer the "loyal confidants of Liu Biao" that they were when they first took office. They also subtly felt Liu Bei's kindness and importance to them, and gradually began to soften and move closer to Liu Bei.

This is also the main reason why Liu Bei's camp cannot rush to use troops this year and must first digest the territory - even though the war in the south ended when the Battle of Cangting in the north ended, Liu Bei's foundation is far less solid than that of Cao Cao and Yuan Shao.

Just two years ago, the territory Liu Bei actually controlled was less than a complete state. Now it is the size of two states, which shows that in the past two years, Liu Bei's territory has more than doubled.

Except Changsha, the other three counties in Jingnan were nominally taken over peacefully. It would take a very long time to digest and win them over. It was not the end of the matter once Zhang Xian died.

Otherwise, if you take too big steps, your internal organs will be full of holes and you will suffer from indigestion when you exercise.

In fact, Liu Biao is the most typical example on this issue - Liu Biao did not naturally own Jingzhou when he took the position of Mu/Governor of Jingzhou, he only owned it in name.

In history, it took Liu Biao ten years to change from nominal ownership to actual ownership. He can't compare with Yuan Shao, a big shot who had three officials in four generations and took control of the situation immediately after entering the state alone.

Now Liu Bei only plans to spend two years to make up for the internal indigestion, which is several times faster than Liu Biao.

At this moment, after Lai Gong received Liu Bei's letter from Li Yan, he discussed it briefly and felt that Liu Bei's suggestion was very good.

Lai Gong took the initiative to analyze with Li Yan: "Lingling has a vast territory. Although there are hundreds of thousands of registered people, more people are scattered everywhere, making it difficult to count and collect taxes. The traditional method of conscripting corvée often does not recruit many people, but instead causes registered people to flee and hide.

Why not follow the General's suggestion and have the government pay them for labor for a few years instead of doing it for free? Maybe we can attract more short-sighted poor people to work out of the mountains, and then we can slowly sort out the household registration and eliminate the problem of hidden tyrants."

Li Yan had originally prepared a long speech of persuasion, but seeing that Lai Gong was so understanding, he seemed to have been almost influenced by his lord.

After all, Lai Gong was also one of the eleven signatories on Liu Bei's "Petition to the King of Hanzhong to Advance the Emperor" in history. It may be that he was born to be more compatible with Liu Bei.

(Note: Li Yan was also on the list of co-signers of the "Hanzhong King's Persuasion to Advance the Emperor" in history. At the front were those from Yizhou and Xiliang, in the middle were Zhuge Liang and Guan, Zhang and Huang, and after Huang Zhong were Lai Gong, Fa Zheng and Li Yan)
Since Lai Gong cooperated, Li Yan saved himself the trouble and skipped the first stage of persuasion. He discussed the specific details of winter corvée with Lai Gong:

"Since the Lord has agreed, I will calculate the scale of corvée labor that needs to be conscripted in the next few days, and then contact the local tyrants to ask them to buy grain to supply the laborers.

However, I think that once the news of such large-scale grain purchases is released, some local tyrants may hoard grain and take advantage of the sharp increase in demand to raise grain prices. So I ask the Lord to authorize me to strictly investigate those who drive up grain prices.

In addition, we have to impose a large amount of corvée this year, and the grain consumption has increased sharply. The grain delivery task requested by Liu Jingzhou will definitely not be completed. Please write to Liu Jingzhou, explain the pros and cons, and request for exemption, or postpone it to the next year, or allow gold, silver or copper coins to replace grain at a discount. "

Lai Gong gritted his teeth, he knew this was one of Liu Bei's ways to gradually tie him to the chariot. If he gave up his power and let Li Yan use force to investigate the powerful people who hoarded grain and were reluctant to sell it, then some of the hatred would definitely be directed at him or Liu Biao.

Li Yan and Liu Bei certainly have some too, but at least a part of it will be shared.

But if he did not explicitly authorize Li Yan and just let Li Yan do it on his own, then all the hatred would be on Li Yan and Liu Bei.

But Lai Gong had no choice, he finally decided to join in and share the hatred. In this way, the tyrants in Jingnan would have nowhere to hide - the survival rule of these tyrants was mainly "once there are several powerful factions fighting each other in the local area, then they have to compete to please and win over the tyrants in exchange for more support from the tyrants."

For example, if Liu Bei and Liu Biao wanted to compete for the "hearts of the people", they would have to offer a price to the powerful people, and in the end the one with the highest price would win. They would support whoever offered the highest price.

But if Liu Bei and Liu Biao's agents exert pressure together, there will be no third-party forces to be won over locally, the rulers will be unable to quarrel with each other, and the situation will be relatively quiet.

Lai Gong understood all these reasons, but he still decided to cooperate. So he signed the documents that Li Yan needed him to sign, and sent a letter to Liu Biao, asking Liu Biao to reduce or delay the blood transfusion from Lingling County to Nan County.

(End of this chapter)