My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 439: A Full Meal with Cao Ze and a Full Meal with Zhuge Liang

Cao Cao followed the advice of Guo Jia and Xun You and decided to keep his troops in Youzhou and contact the Hu people to ensure contact with Gongsun Du.

More than half a month passed in a flash, and the wheel of history quietly turned to late June of the ninth year of Jian'an.

……

Langya County, all counties.

It has been more than two months since Zhuge Jin returned to his fiefdom.

During this period, he focused his main energy on negotiations with Yuan Tan, helping Liu Bei to use both kindness and force to pressure Yuan Tan and better tie Yuan Tan to his own chariot.

A small part of his energy was put into intelligence and strategic deception against Cao's army. He also had to spare some time to tinker with some minor technical matters.

Fortunately, these areas of work are progressing smoothly.

Now the winter wheat harvest in Qingzhou has been successfully completed, and the newly collected wheat has been transported directly to the dock warehouses in Huang County, Donglai County and Xiami County, Beihai County, waiting for Mi Zhu to send sand ships to transport it away at any time. The money that should be paid to Yuan Tan has already been paid in advance by Zhuge Jin to Yuan Tan.

After all, it is much easier to transport money than grain. Tens of thousands of shi of grain can be purchased with just a few dozen tons of copper coins, and dozens of tons of copper coins can be carried by just one or two ships.

In addition, the sea-going vessel fishing technology and double-ship trawling technology that Zhuge Jin delivered to Yuan Tan's army have gradually been put on the right track after two months of pilot production and running-in.

Yuan Tan's army temporarily built several fishing gear workshops along the coast of Beihai County, experimentally weaving hundreds or even thousands of drift nets, which the government then distributed to fishermen in a similar way to renting cattle for military farming.

It was agreed that the final catch would be split 50-50, and the government did not force the fishermen to comply. It was entirely up to whoever was willing to cooperate. Anyway, the first batch of fishing nets was not large enough to ensure that every fisherman could get a share.

This commission ratio is of course exaggerated. In the eyes of many fishermen, fishing depends on weather and luck, and they take whatever they can catch. But half of this is taken away by the government. How is that different from farmers?

The land that farmers cultivate belongs to the king after all. If they cultivate the state's land, they should pay rent to the state. But the sea has no owner, so why should they pay so much?
With this idea in mind, most of the fishermen along the coast of Beihai County in Qingzhou were unwilling to take the initiative to cooperate. In the face of this situation, Zhuge Jin's suggestion to Cui Yan, the governor of Beihai, was very simple, which was to gather people together for a public demonstration.

These tactics were already used by Liu Bei's camp in the south, and they were very familiar with them. Now they were transplanted in parallel, and some of them were experienced teams, so the progress was very smooth.

The clerks in charge of promotion went down to the grassroots level, visiting each township and village to demonstrate the new fishing gear. Many relatively smart fishermen immediately invested in it after seeing the exaggerated yields of the new fishing gear.

The fishermen are not stupid. They can see the output of the new fishing nets increase three to five times. If they hand over half to the government, they will still have some left over. Why not do it?

Of course, there are also some people who are too smart and want to make counterfeit coins privately, using the new network without paying taxes to the government. But the technical difficulty of this thing is not easy, and it is difficult for ordinary people to learn it. Even if a few smart people learn it, if they only make one or two coins and use them secretly, it will be impossible to detect them all.

But if there are evil-minded people who not only use the drugs themselves after making them but also want to sell them outside, they will be exposed in minutes and then someone will come to search and confiscate the drugs.

In the Han Dynasty, ordinary people had no ability to imitate it. Those who could imitate it were at least small powerful people who could organize a manor economy.

Yuan Tan ruled the coastal counties, and this work was progressing smoothly. Yuan Tan's trust in Zhuge Jin became even more thorough. He had a good personal relationship with Zhuge Liang back then, and now he felt that everyone in the Zhuge family was a good person. Wanting Mi Zhu to buy more affordable grain was no big deal.

……

On the morning of June 22, all counties.

Zhuge Jin got up early in the morning, washed up, had a meal, and then went to handle official business in the marquis's mansion.

He first read the letter from Yuan Tan delivered yesterday, which reported that all the low-priced grain to be sold to Mi Zhu had been stored in the warehouse and recorded in the account.

This news made him feel quite good. He put down the letter and was about to take a break with a cup of tea when he saw Lu Su running in with something to report.

"Zi Jing looks happy. Could something good have happened?" Zhuge Jin looked at the other person's expression and asked with a smile.

Lu Su was convinced: "I can't hide anything from you, brother. There is indeed good news. Cao Cao has ordered Lu Kuang to change his position and handed over the military power to Zhang He to take over the defense of Hejian and Zhongshan. After Zhang He took office, he spread rumors and threatened to retaliate, but he only strengthened patrols along the Yishui River and did not take any substantive actions.

General Zhao had been on guard in Zhuo County for many days. After learning Zhang He's detailed deployment, he drew a map and sent it to me by express horse for instructions.

"Give it to me." Zhuge Jin was not polite and stretched out his hand. Lu Su handed over the things sent by Zhao Yun with both hands. Zhuge Jin glanced at them casually and knew what they were.

"Cao, this is just a lot of noise but little action. It seems that our army's deception strategy has really worked. Cao Cao thought that Youzhou would not be short of food in the short term but would definitely be short of food in the long term, so he wanted to wait and see for now.

Oh, then our army will do the opposite. After the autumn grain is harvested this year and the troops have had enough rest, we will attack Gongsun Du!

It just so happens that Yuan Tan's affairs have been almost settled, and I should go north in person and take some generals to Youzhou to take charge, so that Zilong can free up his hands to concentrate on dealing with Gongsun Du."

Zhuge Jin expressed his analysis with great confidence. As expected, the Zhuge family's smoke screen was a natural accomplice to a suspicious person like Cao Cao.

If you were someone less suspicious, this trick wouldn't work.

Just as "If the Empty City Plan were to encounter bandits today who do not understand the rhythm of music, they would go straight into the city and capture General Kong Ming."

Seeing that he was so confident, Lu Su was also afraid that he might underestimate the enemy, so he gently reminded him: "Although Cao is suspicious and dare not act rashly, even if he does not move his troops now, he will do his best to find out the news from all over the eastern part of Youzhou. Once he finds out the flaws, he may still take action.

When our army attacks Liaodong, we will do our best to block the news. However, we can rely on Gongjin's patrols to block the sea route, but what about the land route? Cao thieves will definitely use any means to learn about the current situation in Liaodong through the Hu people on the grassland. We can hide it for a month, but not for three or five months. We must be prepared for the possibility of being attacked from both sides in the future. "Zhuge Jin was prepared for this: "Don't worry about this, Zijing. I am going north this time for this - who does Cao Cao rely on to contact Gongsun Du? It's nothing more than Goguryeo, or the Liaodong Xianbei, or the Buyeo King.

Well, in fact, it is unlikely that he was the King of Buyeo. The Buyeo people lived further northeast of Gongsun Du and made a living by fishing and hunting. In terms of nomadic life, they were far inferior to Goguryeo and Xianbei.

Anyway, no matter who Cao Cao relies on to deliver the message, they must go west through the Wuhuan land of the Three Commanderies. If we can unite the Wuhuan in the north of the Three Commanderies, as well as a few Xianbei, and make them stand on our side, we can kill Cao's envoys and cut off the communication between the Liaodong Xianbei and the Daibei Hu people, how can Cao Cao get the news in time? "

Zhuge Jin’s idea was very simple. It was true that the prairie was connected, but there were also clear spheres of influence distributed from east to west.

At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the most obvious assimilation of the Hu people in the northern part of Youzhou was the "Three Counties Wuhuan". It was mainly this group of people that Liu Yu recruited to serve as mercenaries for the court.

The so-called three counties are Yuyang, Youbeiping, and Liaoxi. The "Three County Wuhuan" refers to the Wuhuan people living in the grasslands outside the Great Wall to the north of these three counties. Compared with other Hu people, their biggest characteristic is that as long as the Eastern Han court can pay, they will serve as soldiers obediently. Only when the court can't pay wages, they will start to rob and rebel.

Compared with other Hu tribes, these people can at least be easily sinicized by paying money, and Zhuge Jin can show them a way to be self-sufficient.

Once Zhuge Jin's economic reforms are completed and all the relatively assimilated Hu people are tied to his trade division system, these people will become a barrier for him to separate the grasslands. What will Cao Cao do when he tries to contact the east?
By then, if the Hu people in the grasslands north of Dai County and Shanggu wanted to contact the Hu people in the grasslands north of Liaodong, they would be intercepted and killed. Although it is impossible to completely block the flow of information from the grasslands to the east, it is still possible to delay it for a few more months.

Until now, Lu Su still doesn't know what kind of economic policy Zhuge Jin will use to win over the Hu people after he goes north this time, and whether the effect of winning them over will be good, so it is not appropriate for him to comment on this.

However, Lu Su could still give some suggestions to Zhuge Jin's plan from a military perspective, so he sincerely reminded him: "Even if we can cut off the connection between Daidi and Liaodong grasslands, or at least block it for a few months, it may not be possible to completely hide it from Cao Cao.

When our army attacked Gongsun Du, the deployment of troops was complicated, with tens of thousands of troops moving back and forth, and the amount of military rations required was even greater. Given Cao's cautiousness, he would have tried every possible means to infiltrate Youzhou and investigate the situation.

By then, our army will not move troops, but will send food and fodder first. If Cao's spies find out any clues, they may be cautious and send heavy troops to Youzhou. What should we do then?"

"Good question!" Zhuge Jin showed an approving look, very satisfied with Lu Su's prudence and thoroughness.

He had vaguely thought about this problem and thought he could solve it, but no one had formally raised it to him before, so Zhuge Jin did not fully realize its importance. Now that Lu Su had raised it, he would evaluate it in detail.

Zhuge Jin deduced carefully, "Although it is impossible to completely avoid Cao's spies, as long as we do it secretly and release a mixture of true and false news, it will be enough to confuse their ears and eyes.

If we want Cao's army not to discover our military expedition to Liaodong in the future, the most effective way to address the problem is to reduce the scale of troops dispatched from Yuyang, Jixian and other places, and to reduce the scale of food and grass transported from the local areas.

So my plan is to let the troops carry more food with them, except for the food for the attack, and the other food and grass needed for long-term operations will be shipped directly from Qingzhou! Go directly to the mouth of the Liaohe River by sea! Our troops going by land will rush along the coast of the uninhabited area of western Liaoning for hundreds of miles, and then go directly to the bank of the Liaohe River to pick up food.

The food did not leave Jixian, Yuyang and other places, and there was no sign of any baggage convoys passing by. Where could Cao's spies go to investigate the truth? Could Cao Cao dare to believe that our army would mobilize without even transporting food and grass?
Secondly, in addition to food being transported by sea, part of our army can also be transported by sea. Anyway, Liaoxi is an uninhabited area. Even if Gongsun Du's army wants to advance and deploy defenses, they can only fight field battles and mobile battles with our army, and there is no possibility of a siege.

Without having to fight a decisive battle, our army will not need to deploy heavy infantry and siege equipment along the land route. Therefore, at that time, I plan to let Zilong lead only cavalry to advance on land, while the infantry will go by sea and go straight to the Liaohe River.

Youzhou does not need to send out infantry, nor does it need to send out food carts and baggage, so the noise made when the troops are dispatched will be very small, and it will be difficult for the spies arranged by Cao to detect them.

As long as our army can hold out for the first few months, I am not afraid even if Cao's army becomes aware of it - by then we can use the second phase of the deception strategy to make Cao Cao mistakenly believe that we have captured Gongsun Du, or are about to capture Gongsun Du, and it will be too late for him to rescue us.

At that time, we can design a plan to guide Cao Cao to quickly find other ways to stop the loss, so that Cao Cao can "although it is too late to save Gongsun Du, at least he can take advantage of the fact that our army is unable to take care of him and go to other weak princes to make up for it." This matter can be diverted to the west. "

As for who Cao Cao would go after the disaster was diverted to the west, this was not something Zhuge Jin could care about, as there were too many variables. But no matter who he went to, it didn't matter, Han Sui would suffer if he deserved it, and Zhang Lu would suffer if he deserved it.

After listening to this strategy, Lu Su felt that it was quite feasible.

If Zhao Yun only sent out cavalry and advanced along Liaoxi, and after reaching the Liao River, he would go by sea to supply food to the friendly forces along the way, it would be completely invisible to the Cao army spies lurking in Ji County.

However, would a cavalry unit be enough? What if Gongsun Du discovered them and concentrated his forces to attack Zhao Yun, destroying him or at least severely injuring him?
Lu Su thought of this and tactfully mentioned his concerns. He felt that "the scale of our cavalry is not large enough. After all, we have only occupied Youzhou for a few months and have not been able to take advantage of Youzhou's local horse breeding to build new cavalry. Even Zhao Yun cannot provide more than 10,000 cavalry. If we act alone with only a cavalry unit of several thousand people, will Gongsun Du decisively meet and annihilate us?"

Regarding this worry, Zhuge Jin directly told Lu Su not to worry:

"I am confident in Zilong's ability to lead the cavalry. With thousands of people, not everyone dares to challenge him. Moreover, I have other ways to make Zilong more powerful in this battle. I will make arrangements when I arrive in Youzhou."

After hearing what he said, Lu Su did not question it anymore.

It seems that Brother Ziyu has another killer move.

"In this case, I will not say any more. I will just focus on doing my job in Langya and making sure that there are no mistakes in the surrounding counties." Lu Su expressed sincerely.

Finally, Zhuge Jin explained to Lu Su some precautions regarding the affairs in Langya, and asked Lu Su to help him with the daily contacts with Yuan Tan in the following months. After handing over the work, Zhuge Jin led an army north.

Lu Su personally escorted him away from the counties and all the way to the border between Langya County and Qingzhou before returning.

Zhuge Jin, along with Tian Yu and Zhou Tai, who was responsible for protecting him, and several thousand elite armored soldiers, did not take the water route, but instead took the land route across the Shandong Peninsula to the north.

He planned to go to Linzi in Qi Prefecture first to meet Yuan Tan in person. Then he would take a boat from the Yellow River estuary in Le'an Prefecture in Qingzhou to Tianjin City in the north. Then he would take the Yishui and Weishui waterways to Yuyang, and finally ride a horse to Ji County.

Zhou Yu would send naval warships in advance to wait for them at Lijin County at the mouth of the Yellow River, so Zhuge Jin didn't have to worry about the ships.

(End of this chapter)