My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 430 A bold move
Realizing that when Cao and Liu go to war again in the future, the center of gravity of the battlefield may tilt to the north,

The focus of the dispute between the two sides may shift northward to the Nanpi area of Bohai County on the edge of the Hebei Plain.

Liu Bei, who had relaxed for a while after his great victory in the Battle of Xuhuai, couldn't help but become anxious again.

If the decisive battle is to be fought on the plains, many of our previous advantages will not be able to be brought into play.

Danyang soldiers are good at mountain warfare, and the southern navy is good at cutting off the Huaishui waterway. These advantages are no longer useful after the battlefield is switched. At most, we can still count on Zhou Yu's navy to control the waterway of the Zhang River in the future, but they can only help a little.

Conquering Yuan Tan was indeed a matter of both danger and gain. It was impossible to reap the benefits without taking responsibility.

Liu Bei's army's deployment during the one-year truce period and many of its arrangements for next year will revolve around the goal of "how to strengthen our ability to fight tough battles on the North China Plain" and strive to make up for the shortcomings as soon as possible.

After realizing this, Liu Bei, who felt his mind was a tangled mess, decided to settle the personnel arrangements first.

As long as the talent allocation is settled, the following work can be assigned to specific people and he won't have to worry about it himself.

A gentleman is not a tool. For a ruler, the most important thing is to employ people.

Liu Bei's intuition told him that the two brothers, Zhuge Jin and Zhuge Liang, should be deployed one in the south and one in the north, each responsible for coordinating his half of the country.

This will avoid the disadvantages of the North-South front being too long and difficult to unify command.

The remaining talents can be filled one by one according to demand and added to the two teams of the Zhuge brothers.

After figuring this out, Liu Bei no longer stayed in Xuzhou. He felt that he should hurry back to Hefei, return to his temporary headquarters as the General of Chariots and Cavalry, and work together with Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong and others to discuss the major strategies for the future.

If I stayed in Pengcheng, I would only have Zhuge Jin to discuss things with, which was enough, but it always felt not thorough and perfect enough.

Moreover, after the end of the Xuhuai War, the enshrinement of the tomb of King Xiao of Liang, and the alliance of anti-Cao princes, there was no need for Liu Bei to stay in Pengcheng for long.

So after seven or eight days, Liu Bei led his troops back south, taking a considerable part of the troops with him, and retreated to find food. He finally returned to Shouchun in April and then to Hefei.

Among the states and counties under Liu Bei's rule, production in the southern region has recovered relatively well, and after years of operation, there is sufficient food.

Many territories in the north had just been recovered, and had been severely damaged by the repeated tug-of-war between Cao Cao, Yuan Shu, and Lu Bu, so there was no surplus food. In a peaceful state, letting the troops return south to eat was also a good way to reduce the pressure on logistics and military food transportation.

When there is tension on the border again in the future and military force is needed, it will still be possible to temporarily transfer the troops stationed in the south to the north.

……

As soon as Liu Bei arrived in Hefei, Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong came out to greet him, and Zhao Yun and Gan Ning also brought troops to escort him.

"Congratulations to my lord for winning the respect of the anti-Cao princes. The great cause of the revival of the Han Dynasty can be expected."

Facing the congratulations from the civil and military officials, Liu Bei was not proud and waved his hand casually: "This is the result of everyone's concerted efforts. We must not slack off in the future."

Then he signaled to everyone not to be polite and to return to the city.

The group soon arrived at the temporary shogunate in Hefei, which was built last year. Someone had already prepared a welcoming banquet. Liu Bei was not in a hurry, so he took a day or two to have a good rest, and had a party every day to relieve the fatigue of the journey before discussing business.

On the third day after returning to Hefei, the banquet and rest were finally over. Liu Bei also cheered up and summoned Zhuge Jin, Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong to hold a closed-door meeting to discuss the subsequent high-level personnel arrangements.

Liu Bei had thought a lot in the past few days and had a clear idea of what questions to ask, so he got straight to the point and asked a key question:
"Now that the battle of Xuhuai has ended, it is unlikely that any future war with Cao will take place in Xuhuai. Should the temporary headquarters of the General of Chariots and Cavalry be placed in Hefei? Or should it be moved to a place that can take care of both the north and the south without losing sight of one while focusing on the other?"

Zhuge Jin and Zhuge Liang looked at each other and felt that there was no need to move. It was better to have less trouble than more, so they did not speak immediately.

Pang Tong asked a few questions and also shared with Zhuge Jin the information that "in the next war, we may have to support Yuan Tan in Bohai County", and then said:
“I think that Hefei is too far south. If we want to take into account the distant You and Ji regions, it is better to place it in Xuzhou and move it back to Xiapi or Pengcheng to avoid the slow transmission of news from the northern battlefield.

In particular, although Hefei is not far from Pengcheng, it is separated by the protruding Fuli and Zhuyi of the Huaibei Plain, which are occupied by Cao's army. To get to Hefei from Pengcheng and Xiapi, you need to take a detour, first go down the Sishui River, and then go up the Huai River, which is not smooth enough after all. "

After hearing this, Liu Bei turned to the Zhuge brothers.

Zhuge Liang was the first to say: "Our army now has homing pigeons, so the trouble of taking a detour can be overcome. We just need to regularly send cavalry to Hefei to transport homing pigeons whose nests are usually in Pengcheng, and then send homing pigeons whose nests are usually in Hefei to Pengcheng.

In case of emergency, we can release the pigeons and they can fly directly from the wild areas in the Cao army occupied areas without taking a detour. Some urgent military information that is not too confidential and we are not afraid of Cao army knowing what we know can be sent in this way. So I think the military need to go to Pengcheng or Xiapi is not obvious and can be overcome. It is better to save trouble than to worry about it. The symbolic significance of the Chariot General Shogunate is too obvious and should not be moved lightly. "

Liu Bei nodded slightly. According to Zhuge Liang, the problems mentioned by Pang Tong could be overcome by technical means. The benefits mentioned by Zhuge Liang were political. Pang Tong did not consider the political stability at the beginning, but only the convenience of military and personnel.

After thinking about it, Pang Tong stopped insisting and just muttered: "If that's the case, if it's just for the convenience of transportation and the speed of military information transmission, Shouchun is worse than Hefei. At least it's directly adjacent to the Huai River, so it's better to change boats and turn into the Fei River.

"We didn't choose Shouchun last year because Cao was strong and we were weak, and Shouchun was too close to the front line. Now our army has seized three counties of Cao's army and leveled the entire Huaihe River defense line. The western part of Huainan is also in our hands. With Yuan Tan and Wen Chang as support on the left wing, Shouchun can ensure absolute safety. Isn't this better than Hefei?"

Zhuge Jin, who had never spoken, finally spoke at this time: "Shiyuan, when you plan strategies, you often focus on military affairs and practical benefits, but not on false reputation. If you want to fight for the world, you must match your reputation with your reality, and your falsehood with your reality.

Shouchun may be better than Hefei in terms of convenience, but it is Yuan Shu's pseudo-capital after all. My lord wants to break the old and establish the new, rebuild the Han Dynasty, so how can he inherit the palace left by Yuan Ni?

Although Xia Pi and Pengcheng are not bad, the lord was once in Xia Pi and was stolen by Lü Bu. Lü Bu and Tao Qian also failed in Pengcheng and Xia Pi when they rebelled against Cao. The lord should show a new spirit and naturally cannot be the same as the previous ones. This is the only way to inspire people. "

Liu Bei himself and the Zhuge brothers were certainly not superstitious. Pang Tong was not superstitious either, otherwise he would not have been so pragmatic.

But not all of the people below may be rational. If some of them think that using the bases of losers such as Tao Qian, Lu Bu, and Yuan Shu as our base would be unlucky and disadvantageous for the war against Cao, then we should avoid it.

Liu Bei agreed with Zhuge Brothers and said, "What Shi Yuan said is indeed reasonable in military terms and is the most cost-effective in terms of practical benefits. However, considering the overall situation, we still have to take into account both military and political interests.

In this case, it is better to stay still than to move. Moreover, when I first came here last year, in order to prevent Cao thieves from being alerted, I only set up a temporary shogunate and did not make a big fuss.

Now, we will officially hold some ceremonies, expand the regulations of the shogunate, and expand the military camp and parade ground in Hefei. We must make sure that the shogunate is equal to Cao Cao's, so as to correct the world's perception. "

Liu Bei's decision also reaffirmed the political and military center for the next few years. The Wuchang Marquisate was placed in Wuchang, and the General of Chariots and Cavalry's headquarters was officially placed in Hefei.

When the eastern line is the strategic focus, Liu Bei officially stays in Hefei. When the southern line is the strategic focus, Liu Bei officially stays in Wuchang, or goes on an expedition with the army - for example, if the time comes to take Liu Zhang in the future, it will be a case of "focusing on the southern line", but it is definitely not the case now.

Pang Tong listened and didn't argue much. He was quite self-aware and knew that he was good at military calculations, but his political awareness and vision were indeed slightly lower than those of the Zhuge brothers, so he didn't have any complaints.

Pang Tong just improvised and filled in the gaps, saying: "Since the lord insists on keeping the shogunate in Hefei, it is a little far from the north, so we must appoint another important official in the north to coordinate the overall situation. There are some matters that do not require the lord's permission, and this person can make full decisions, so as not to be taken advantage of by Cao thieves."

Pang Tong paused here and did not mention any specific candidates.

But he knew very well that Liu Bei would definitely choose one of the Zhuge brothers to take charge of the affairs on the eastern front and in the north, while the other would stay by his side to be responsible for the affairs in the south.

As to who will be sent out and who will be kept by Liu Bei's side, outsiders will not interfere. It depends on Liu Bei's own decision.

Liu Bei thought about it, but didn't say it out loud. Instead, he exchanged glances with Zhuge Jin and Zhuge Liang before making the final decision:
"In this case, I would like to trouble Ziyu to return to his hometown of Langya and coordinate the affairs of Qingxu, Youji and Langya. Langya is located at the junction of Qingxu, which is just right for coordinating the defense of Yunchang and Xiansi. Ziyu can make the full decision on the affairs in the north.

Kong Ming will stay with me, responsible for the affairs of Jingyang, and focus on internal affairs. The Huainan area of Xuzhou, such as Guangling County and Donghai County, can also be assigned to Kong Ming for overall planning. There is no war in these places, and we only need to sort out the civil affairs and provide enough soldiers and food for the front.

Kong Ming is also good at water conservancy, persuading farmers, and managing the people. In the next few years, our army will focus on promoting Linyi rice and slowly planting early rice in various parts of Jiangnan. Let Kong Ming coordinate this matter, coordinate with the counties, and send people to summarize the experience and techniques of Linyi rice planting, compile them into agricultural books, and let the government promote them vigorously, so that we can achieve twice the result with half the effort. "

Liu Bei had lived a hard life before, so he knew that introducing a new crop was not something that could be grown well just by talking about it.

There will definitely be pitfalls along the way, pilot projects will be needed, and various problems caused by climate change and environmental changes need to be solved. If there is no genius like Zhuge Liang to coordinate, it is possible that the early rice planting in the south will waste three to five years before it can be fully developed.

It would be better to let Zhuge Liang give full play to his strengths, conduct pilot projects while summarizing experience, write a book on agriculture, and proceed step by step.

After discussing the two top personnel issues, the location of the shogunate and the north-south power division of the Zhuge brothers, Liu Bei was able to further deepen the details and begin discussing the military and political leaders at the state level.

The most urgent task is to select the main generals for the defense of You and Ji, the territories originally ruled by Yuan Tan, so as to avoid being caught off guard when Cao's army invades in the future.

Since you are the leader of the alliance, you must protect your subordinates. The key to protecting your subordinates is to send capable generals to assist in defense.

Previously, Guan Tong, Zhang Nan and others under Yuan Tan were really useless.

Liu Bei first asked: "Who do you think can be the governor of Youzhou in the future?"

(End of this chapter)