My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 5: Singing and measuring sand (please collect and vote)

After Liu Bei made up his mind to postpone the decisive battle, his admiration for Zhuge Jin naturally became more thorough, and he already secretly regarded him as a talented person.

Unfortunately, the planning process of a complicated war cannot be accomplished with just a few simple instructions.

There are still countless tactical details and execution issues ahead, like thorns everywhere waiting to be cleared.

It's because Liu Bei has too little capital, so his tolerance for error is shockingly low.

Sun Qian, who was listening in, remained calm and soon discovered that Zhuge Jin's plan was still not perfect.

So Sun Qian immediately pointed out boldly:

"What you just said is indeed thought-provoking, and it also solves the first two of the three major hidden dangers, which can be said to kill two birds with one stone. But how do you solve the last hidden danger?
After all, the longer the night, the more dreams there are. Every day of delay will increase the chance that the bad news of Xia Pi's fall will be leaked. Once morale collapses, there will be no chance to fight a desperate battle."

Before Zhuge Jin could answer, Liu Bei next to him frowned and looked a little embarrassed when he heard what he said.

"Shouldn't we, the commanders of the army, personally solve these specific details? Ziyu is just a scholar, but he is already a great favor to us for making plans for our army.

First, close all the city gates, cut off the news from inside and outside, and then isolate all the soldiers who have seen Yi De. But we should do our best and leave the rest to fate."

After saying this, Liu Bei turned to Zhuge Jin and bowed, saying, "Sir, when I first met you, you saved our army from a life-and-death dilemma. I am truly grateful and would not expect more.

Sir, please go and have a rest. The rest will be handled by our brothers. Sir, you are the one who plans and plans. Your life and death are uncertain. We dare not leave you in this dangerous place. We should send your family away first so that we can have a bold fight. "

When Zhuge Jin heard that Liu Bei was willing to send him to escape first as originally planned, he did not object.

After all, he is a modern man and has never even seen a murder with his own eyes.

Now that he had done what he was supposed to advise on, all that was left was the work of the military commanders, so there was no point in him staying.

He still needs some time to slowly adapt to the cruel environment of ancient times.

"Then I'd rather obey you than be disrespectful," Zhuge Jin accepted the good intention, but before leaving, he gave a few more pieces of advice that he had just thought of, as a bonus.
"As for how to block the news, I actually have some ideas that I can share with you, General. First, starting tomorrow, we can gradually increase the military food supply and pay the soldiers.

For ordinary soldiers, as long as they can continue to have enough food, they will not think too much. Even if bad news spreads in a small area, it will be regarded as a rumor and will be self-defeating.

Secondly, the general can arrange for personnel to take stock of military rations and measure the sand tomorrow. In this way, there will be absolutely no problem in delaying the battle for another seven or eight days."

Liu Bei was originally preparing to see the guest off, but Zhuge Jin's last two words before he left startled him again.

This kid is so young, yet he can think of so many little tricks to boost morale in daily life?
Liu Bei only pondered the suggestion of giving the soldiers extra meals for two seconds, and his intuition told him that he should listen to it.

Although the military rations will be eaten up faster, it is definitely worthwhile as long as it can bring peace of mind before the decisive battle.

As for the second point about "singing and measuring sand", Liu Bei didn't understand it at first.

After all, this was a trick used by Tan Daoji, a general of Liu Song, to trick the Hu soldiers into retreating during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, and it is not yet an idiom.

But who can blame Liu Bei for not having enough education?

He felt guilty for a moment, thinking that the teacher was knowledgeable and had touched upon his blind spot in knowledge, so he secretly poked Sun Qian with his elbow.

Sun Qian had followed Liu Bei for two years and was familiar with his lord's thoughts. He whispered that he didn't know what singing and measuring sand was either.

Liu Bei then breathed a sigh of relief: it turned out that he was not the only one who was uneducated.

He humbly bowed and asked: "I agree with the first of the two strategies you mentioned, but I don't know what this 'singing and measuring sand' means..."

Zhuge Jin was stunned and quickly translated it, saying that it was to secretly get a pile of sand, put it in a large hemp bag or a bucket, cover it with a layer of white rice, and then count the inventory in public to deceive people.

Besides, since he had already translated it, he might as well be a good person and reminded Liu Bei:

“The soldiers who are responsible for filling the sand and making fakes should be separated from other troops in the future. It would be better to use those soldiers who have seen Yi De to do it, and send them away after the digging is done.” After listening to this, Liu Bei pondered for a while and was finally overjoyed. He called Mr. Lian Hu very thoughtful and extraordinary.

"In this case, I can only trouble you to stay for one more day. Fortunately, Ji Ling is now unable to siege the city. But I can swear to heaven that as long as I am still alive, I will protect your family."

After Liu Bei swore and swore, he turned to look at Zhang Fei and ordered him sternly:

"Yide! This is all caused by you! But the past is the past. Tomorrow, send all the people you brought with you to sing and measure the sand!

After nightfall, you personally take them all away and escort the master's family to Haixi County first. Make sure nothing goes wrong! Send Zi Zhong along as well! He can also raise emergency food for our army in the rear to prepare for any unexpected events.

"During the journey, if the master gives you any instructions, you must obey them, just as if I were giving you an order in person! You must not resist in the slightest! Otherwise, you would be betraying the brotherhood between us!"

Zhuge Jin was standing by and heard Liu Bei plan to send him and Mi Zhu away together tomorrow. He also felt that this method was quite appropriate.

Mi Zhu was a wealthy man after all. Historically, after Liu Bei was defeated in this battle, he temporarily made peace with Lu Bu and returned to Xiaopei to station there. Soon he "gathered 10,000 troops" again, relying on the military supplies prepared by Mi Zhu.

If Mi Zhu were to make preparations in advance now, perhaps it would help alleviate the problem of food shortage after the Battle of Huaiyin.

In this way, Liu Bei's current army of more than 10,000 troops could be saved from collapse. This is much stronger than the army Liu Bei later recruited in history. Veterans in wartime are precious strategic forces.

Zhang Fei, who had been looking down his head tonight, became extremely depressed after hearing this order:
"Brother, you can punish me in any way you want, but the decisive battle is imminent. You and my second brother must brave the arrows and stones and fight to the death. I have sworn to live and die together. How can I fall behind in this battle?"

When Liu Bei saw Zhang Fei pestering him, he was so angry that he almost laughed.

Fortunately, Guan Yu on the side reacted quickly and immediately scolded him:

"Stupid! Third brother, don't you think about it? As long as the soldiers in the city see you, they will know that Xia Pi is lost! Your fighting ability in charging into the battle formation is nothing compared to the loss of the army's morale!
Leave the decisive battle to me! Don't worry! I'm giving you a chance to atone for your sins. Protecting the family of the master can at least make up for the sin of betraying your sister-in-law!"

Only Guan Yu could say this. Because Zhang Fei could not participate in the decisive battle, all the pressure of the decisive battle fell on Guan Yu.

Only when Guan Yu personally took on the responsibility did Zhang Fei have the nerve to give up the task.

Zhang Fei's face turned blue, red, and black after being scolded. He then knelt down sincerely, kowtowed to Liu Bei and Guan Yu, and then hugged Guan Yu's thigh tightly:

"Brother! The decisive battle depends on you! We are outnumbered, so be careful."

Guan Yu remained calm, stroking his beard and said proudly: "They are just Ji Ling and Liu Xun, you can go without worry, I will protect you, big brother."

Zhang Fei felt extremely ashamed, so he turned to Zhuge Jin and swore, "Sir, if you give me any orders, I will obey them!"

……

Zhuge Jin gave a few final instructions and was finally sent back to rest, dragging his tired body.

It was already Chou time when I got home. The first day of traveling across time was so tight that I had no chance to catch my breath for the entire eight hours.

His stepmother and uncle also did not sleep well that night, as they were always worried about his late return.

"This Envoy Liu is too bossy. He promised to escort us out of the city early in the morning and come back at midnight. Don't fall asleep while riding your horse later."

Seeing her son exhausted and looking dispirited, Mrs. Song felt distressed and complained.

Zhuge Jin licked his cracked lips, drank the water Song Xin poured for him, and wiped his mouth: "The plan has changed. We have to wait one more day before leaving. Take a good rest first."

When Song heard this, her heart skipped a beat.

As a woman who didn't understand worldly affairs, she became even more frightened, thinking how could someone be ordered around like this?

Zhuge Jin fell asleep immediately, and soon began to snore loudly, and did not wake up until the afternoon.

(End of this chapter)