My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 427 Zhang Song Presents a Map
It is said that Gao Shun and Zhou Tai killed more than a thousand enemies and crushed the attempt of Zhang He's troops of Cao's army to sabotage the grand ceremony of enshrining the emperor and meeting the emperor.

However, Liu Bei only gave them a few instructions and asked them to find the officials to report their achievements tomorrow.

In the eyes of Yuan Tan, Liu Qi and Zhang Song, this calm demeanor naturally made them respect the leader of the rebellion even more.

"What a magnanimous character! It's probably because they have repelled Cao's army so many times that they are used to it and numb. They are no longer interested when they hear about such a small victory." Liu Qi couldn't help but think to himself.

Yuan Tan, who was standing beside him, couldn't help but feel a lump in his throat: "Alas, if my father was still alive, he could have defeated Cao Cao like this, why would our family be in this situation..."

"The General of Chariots and Cavalry is worthy of being the savior. Being able to lead the way for such a heroic lord, his life will be recorded in the history books... How about I seize the time in the next few days to draw a topographical map of Western Shu and present it to the General of Chariots and Cavalry..." Zhang Song was also secretly thinking about this.

However, Liu Bei pretended not to notice the guests' reactions and continued to advise everyone to go to bed early, have a good rest, and say some meaningless polite words.

Everyone went back to rest and there was no conversation all night.

……

Although the ceremony of enshrining the emperor and meeting the emperor for the alliance was over, considering the fatigue of the princes and guests from traveling by boat, Liu Bei was of course happy for everyone to stay as long as they wanted.

After resting for two days in Feng County, they returned to Pei County together. After a night, they returned to Pengcheng, the capital of Xuzhou.

The conditions in Pengcheng are naturally much better than those in Peixian, and even better than rural areas like Fengxian.

Without the constraints of sacrificial rituals, Liu Bei just played music and danced every day, and entertained the envoys of the princes, letting everyone eat, drink and have fun, and only consider going home after they have had enough.

Taking this opportunity, Liu Bei's army also took out more new things to share with their allies, and also showed off their muscles and boasted about their technical strength. Many military and civilian dual-use enjoyment items, as well as the crystallization of advanced production technology, really refreshed the horizons of Yuan Tan and Liu Qi.

Counting the days, from the trip to Fengxian for the ceremony to the return trip, resting the horses, and entertaining the guests, half a month passed in a flash, and time soon came to the end of February and the beginning of March in the ninth year of Jian'an.

In the last few days of February, Yuan Tan felt that he had lived in Pengcheng long enough and had rested sufficiently, so he carefully said goodbye to Liu Shu and wanted to return to Linzi.

Liu Bei was very polite and wanted to keep him, but Zhuge Jin reminded him:
"My lord, Master Yuan has not officially submitted to us yet. He just regards you as the leader of the rebellion. He is still considered a local lord.

If he stayed, the lord would have a clear conscience and was just being hospitable, but outsiders would inevitably think the worst of him.

When rumors start to spread, it will not be good for the reputation and appeal of the lord, so it is better to let him go as soon as possible."

Liu Bei then realized that he had been playing music and dancing every day for the past few days, and his political sensitivity had slightly decreased. In terms of entertaining guests and making friends, the chivalrous spirit of his youth surged up again, but fortunately Zhuge Jin reminded him and helped him put the brakes on.

Liu Bei was also a man who was happy to hear criticism and would change his ways as soon as he was told. He told Yuan Tan that day that he would let him go back to Linzi early the next morning and prepare some gifts tonight. Your uncle Liu must check them personally to find out what is missing, and then ask your nephew Yuan to take them away.

Liu Bei personally comforted Yuan Tan and reassured him: "Xian Si's nephew, how could your foolish uncle have any other intentions? It's just that we have been feasting and dancing together these few days, and I feel happy. I always want to get together with my nephews more.

But you are also a prefect of a state, and you can't stay away from the affairs of Qingzhou and Bohai for long. How about this, here are 300 jars of clear and good wine, 100 jars of strong and fragrant cheese, and 100 jars of deep-sea treasures.

Now, there are also these new jacquard brocades and the latest blue-and-white porcelain utensils. After returning to Linzi, I will change the costumes of the dancers in the mansion and the utensils for daily banquets."

Liu Bei said a lot of things, which seemed to be family matters, but in fact they were hints:
When have we ever deliberately kept you here? It's because we're afraid that you won't have good food, drinks, entertainment, or things to enjoy when you go home.

Since you're not feeling comfortable living here, just give me some food and some gifts before you leave. Your Uncle Liu is so generous.

Yuan Tan accepted the gift, and the worry about being detained that had flashed through his mind completely disappeared. He even felt a little guilty: What had he been thinking about these days? Was Uncle Liu that kind of person? Uncle Liu was obviously just worried that his living conditions would be too poor after he returned to Linzi.

Yuan Tan finally left with many thanks, but after leaving Pengcheng, he couldn't help but gallop his horse. This instinct of not wanting to live under someone else's roof could not be concealed.

……

After Yuan Tan left, Liu Qi and others felt more at ease and could stay a few more days.

After all, Liu Bei didn't even detain Yuan Tan, let alone others.

Liu Qi stayed there until early March. Finally, Liu Bei prepared 3,000 reinforcements for Liu Qi, as well as 1,000 sets of lamellar armor and horse-cutting swords, and 2,000 long spears with heads forged from cast steel. He gave all of them to Chen Dao, asking him to follow Liu Qi back to Hanyang and be responsible for protecting Liu Qi.

Liu Qi also thanked him profusely and said that he would do his best after returning and seize every opportunity to persuade his father to actively resist Cao.

Liu Bei did not make any requests to Liu Qi, but just said some polite words, asking Liu Qi to pay more attention to Liu Biao's health after returning, take good care of his health, and not worry too much.

This kind of indifferent yet humane operation made Liu Qi even more moved.

Finally, Liu Bei brought over a batch of war horses, picked out a few and said to Liu Qi: "Brother Jingsheng is stationed in Jingchu. How could I not know that there is a shortage of horses in the south? Most of our army's territory is in the south, and we were short of horses originally. However, in the past few years, we have accumulated thousands of horses through trade with Gongsun Du in Liaodong.

After my nephew Xiansi cooperated with our army, the Wuhuan horse farms in Youzhou Liaoxi, Youbeiping and other places were able to exchange what they had with us. Therefore, although our army still does not have enough horses, it is still okay to give a little profit of two or three hundred horses to my nephew.

I heard that Pan'er is also a courageous man who has personally served in the army, and Huang Zhonglang is even more capable of being a brave general. How can a good general be without good horses? These are specially selected top-quality Liao horses. My dear nephew, you can share a few horses with your trusted generals. "

Liu Qi bowed his hands and thanked him: "Thank you for your generous gift, uncle. I will never forget your kindness."

Liu Bei waved his hand, then remembered something to note, and said, "Northern war horses all have their own strengths. My dear nephew, you have little experience in battle, do you know the difference?"

Liu Qi quickly asked for advice humbly: "My nephew is ignorant, please teach me, uncle."

Liu Bei pulled one of the horses over, patted its neck, stroked its mane and pointed out:
"The horses of Liangzhou are strong, strong in carrying loads, and good at sprinting. Therefore, when armored cavalry charge into battle, Liangzhou horses are preferred.

The horses of Youzhou were not as good as the horses of Liangzhou in sprinting and carrying loads, but they were thinner, which had its advantages, that is, they were less likely to get excited when running.

Therefore, Youzhou horses are relatively good at endurance, harassment and fighting, and can run at a low speed for a long time without having difficulty in dissipating body heat. As for Bingzhou horses, they are between Liangzhou horses and Youzhou horses.

Therefore, the generals riding Youzhou horses must practice riding and shooting to fully exert their combat power. If they only know how to charge, they will be inferior to Liangzhou horses - but I don't know if Pan'er and Huang Zhonglang can use bows and arrows?"

Most of the principles Liu Bei talked about were from his own military experience, but some of them were scientific knowledge he had learned from chatting with Zhuge Jin and Zhuge Liang over the years.

The reason why the huge warhorse is strong in sprinting and carrying heavy loads but weak in endurance is that the power and heat generated during exercise are proportional to the volume, while the heat dissipation rate is proportional to the skin surface area.

The volume is the cube of the length, but the surface area is only the square of the length, so the bigger the horse is, the harder it is to dissipate heat, and the body temperature will be too high after running for a while. If the strong Western Region horses want to dissipate heat with limited skin surface area, they can only make their sweat glands more developed, and even produce pink sweat, which is called the Ferghana horse, but that is rare.

The horses of Liaodong are smaller and thinner, so they can dissipate heat better and have stronger endurance. When Liu Bei was young, he was very bad at math and had never thought about these problems. It was only after he consulted Zhuge Jin for many years and gained a deeper understanding through observation and experience that he gained a deeper understanding.

Liu Qi, who was standing by, listened to his uncle's explanation and was asked whether Huang Zhong was good at archery. He quickly said that his uncle could rest assured:

"In that case, this horse is just right for Huang Zhonglang. His riding and archery skills are better than charging into battle. When I give it to you, I will tell Huang Zhonglang about your uncle's intentions."

After receiving the reward, Liu Qi and Yi Ji said goodbye and left Pengcheng, went south along the Sishui waterway, and returned to Jingzhou via the Jianghuai River.

Liu Bei personally escorted him out of the city for dozens of miles before returning.

Liu Qi and his entourage's journey was also more stable than Yuan Tan's. Yuan Tan had to ride a horse and cross a section of the Taishan mountain area to return to Linzi, while Liu Qi could travel the entire distance by water and did not need to rely on carts to transport goods.

The gifts Liu Bei gave to Liu Qi were no less than those given to Yuan Tan. Anyway, the fleet had plenty of shipping capacity, fine wine, cheese, porcelain, brocade, and dried seafood, all of which were in good condition, at least 100 jars of each. Letting Liu Qi take them back to Jingzhou to give to others was just the right way to win people's hearts.

……

After Yuan Tan and Liu Qi left, Zhang Song was the only one left in Pengcheng to guard the envoys of the princes, and there was no longer the risk of too many people and too many eyes.

Zhang Song was not afraid of being detained at all. He was not an important person, so it was normal for him to stay until the last and have a few more days of eating, drinking and having fun.

At the beginning, Liu Bei did not dare to treat Zhang Song too well, for he was afraid that "the problem is not the lack of wealth but the inequality of wealth", which would lead Yuan Tan or Liu Qi to have undue concerns.

Seeing that his two nephews had left, except Zhang Biejia, Liu Bei was very pleased.

He personally accompanied Zhang Song to drink every day, and the standard of hospitality did not decline in the slightest.

Instead, he often shared his personal enjoyment experiences with Zhang Song and took out some good things that were not very presentable to share with him.

Zhang Song stayed for a long time because he wanted to find an opportunity to communicate with Liu Bei alone, away from the eyes and ears of other princes.

Secondly, he had just this moment suddenly decided to draw a topographic map of Western Shu and provide some information to Liu Bei. These things were rather troublesome to prepare and would take a few more days.

Liu Bei's hospitality made him even more flattered.

Finally, the day before he decided to leave, Zhang Song took out the map he had just drawn and the intelligence notes he had written, which also contained some inside information about the struggles between the civil and military factions under Liu Zhang in Shu, and handed them to Liu Bei.

Zhang Song also prepared a speech, and bravely offered his services: "The General of Chariots and Cavalry is respectful to the wise and humble, and has high moral integrity, which is unique in my life.

Song is not a person who betrays his master for glory, but Liu Zhang is weak and has been bewitched by those local clans who want to be independent and only want Shu people to rule Shu, so he has no intention of serving his country and is interested in thieves..."

(End of this chapter)