My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 67: There are things a gentleman does and things he doesn’t do
The Zhuge brothers watched the mopping-up battle on the city wall for a while. As the fighting gradually died down and Chen Dao came back to report the results of the battle, they didn't want to stay on the city wall all the time, so they asked Chen Dao to escort them to the county government office.

It was the sixth day of the twelfth lunar month when Zhuge Jin sent his troops from Guangling, and today is already the eighteenth day of the twelfth lunar month.

On the way to the county government office, Zhuge Jin casually asked Chen Dao, "Shuzhi, it's rare that you don't have to protect me, but go to accompany Aliang. How do you feel? You must have felt uncomfortable at first, right?"

Chen Dao originally wanted to deny it and say a few nice words, but seeing that Brother Zhuge looked like they had everything under control, he suddenly felt panicked for no reason and decided that it would be better to tell the truth.

Brother Zhuge is so smart, he would definitely be able to see through my lies immediately, right?
So he said sincerely and apologetically:
"I was a little reluctant at first. I thought the Second Young Master was just handsome and looked more elegant and suave, but the rumor in the army that 'Liang's talent is ten times better than Jin's' must be boasting.

Now it seems that the Second Young Master is at least a rare talent. He can persuade a city to surrender with just a few words. Although there was a little fighting at the end, it was because of the fanatical Buddhist thieves. If it were just ordinary soldiers, they should be able to persuade the whole city to surrender without bloodshed. "

Zhuge Jin smiled triumphantly after hearing this. Zhuge Liang was shocked and blurted out: "Who dares to spread such rumors? It's simply absurd..."

Zhuge Jin quickly pulled him aside and said, "My mother said this when I first served General Zhengnan by chance and General Zhengnan came to my house to thank me. These guys in the army are not disrespectful. They are repeating the original words."

Zhuge Liang was originally angry because some lunatics called them "Liang'er and Jin'er", but when he heard that it was Song who said that, he stopped talking.

Indeed, my stepmother must have had very high expectations of me. When I separated from my mother and brother a few years ago, my mother felt that I was much smarter and more intelligent than my eldest brother.

Not only did his family think so, but Zhuge Liang himself also thought so before.

It was not until more than three months ago that Zhuge Liang's perception on this issue gradually changed when the first batch of letters from his eldest brother were sent to him, telling him about his experiences and progress over the years.

"So many people under General Liu already think that I am stronger than Big Brother... Even if I can't be ten times stronger, I must at least surpass him, so as not to embarrass Big Brother! I must continue to work hard in the future, learn all of Big Brother's skills, and then improve and innovate myself to reach a higher level!"

Zhuge Liang was encouraged by these words.

……

The group soon arrived at the county government office. Because it was a long-distance water march, even if there was no battle, it was very tiring, so Zhuge Jin was not busy with work and had no energy to chat with his second brother.

They just asked people to cook, boil water, and clean up first, while they took a short rest and waited for Gan Ning to come back and report the results of the battle.

Everyone felt uneasy without seeing Gan Ning and had no mind to do anything else.

Finally, after sweeping and cleaning, boiling water, and preparing a few dishes, Gan Ning finally brought some soldiers and hurried to the county government office to report the victory.

Until this moment, the battle of Pengze was a foregone conclusion.

"It's not easy for Xingba to brave the arrows and stones himself. Sit down quickly, drink some wine and wash yourself."

Zhuge Jin came down the steps to greet him personally, bowed, and then asked the maid to wash Gan Ning's hands and face with warm water. He then personally brought a bowl of slightly hot water to Gan Ning and reminded him to drink it slowly.

Gan Ning washed himself and thanked him while taking the water, then was about to drink it. Zhuge Jin had reminded him, but he was still slightly scalded, so he had to slow down.

"Hey, I'm just a warrior. Even in winter, there's no need to drink hot water. Just mix it with some cool water." Gan Ning thanked casually and ordered someone to add water.

Zhuge Jin hurriedly stopped him, "No, cold water is raw water, we must prevent diseases from entering our bodies through the mouth. In our Zhuge family, even when we drink cold water, we boil it and then let it cool. Now that we have just captured the city, we have just boiled it and have not had time to cool it down. This shows how quickly Xingba chased and annihilated the remaining enemies."

Gan Ning was delighted by the compliment and calmed down: it turned out that the fact that the water was not cold could prove that he could kill the enemy quickly.

Zhuge Jin took the opportunity to ask about the battle situation and results, so as to further slow down the opponent's drinking speed.

Gan Ning blew it, took a sip, and said, "In the end, we captured or forced to surrender more than 1,200 people, most of whom were county soldiers from Guangling and Danyang. Two to three hundred people were killed or injured in the chaos, and about five to six hundred people opened the east gate and escaped.

I made some rough inquiries and found out that those who resisted or fled were mostly those who were fanatically convinced of Zuo Rong. It is lamentable that this thief could have bewitched the people to such an extent. It reminds me of the rice thieves in our Yizhou.

There are also several county soldiers who turned against their own side in battle. Some of them opened the door and killed the thieves just now, and some helped me lead the way. I have brought them all with me and they are waiting outside the county government office. If the lieutenant wants to know more details, he can ask them directly. "

Zhuge Jin nodded and quickly ordered: "Please come in, have some wine and food together, and talk slowly."

Gan Ning stood up and left the house, and soon brought two officers in. When they saw Zhuge Jin, they bowed and said, "The guilty generals Li Yi and Li Wu pay their respects to Captain Zhuge!"

Zhuge Jin waved his hand and said, "Get up. There is no need to do this. Since my second brother promised to forgive the past, our army will naturally keep its word. If you are willing to abandon the dark and join the light in the battle, the court will not treat you unfairly. Tell me, what are your backgrounds and what positions did you hold in the rebel army before."

The two looked at each other, and Li Yi bowed and said, "We are brothers. I used to be a general in the army of Guangling County. When Zuo Rong rebelled in Guangling, he killed Lord Zhao. I was powerless and had to endure it and follow the thief.

The following year, Zuo Rong fled south across the river and was taken in by Lord Xue. Later, he killed his leader and rebelled again, and annexed the Danyang County soldiers. My cousin Li Wu was originally only a garrison commander, but Zuo Rong was afraid that he could not control the Danyang County soldiers, so he promoted him one level and transferred him to the Danyang County soldiers.

As far as we know, Zuo Rong is now focusing on the south, confronting Guan Xiaowei who just arrived in Yuzhang at the beginning of the month in Haihun County. He doesn't pay much attention to the several counties in the north of Pengli Lake. The county soldiers left there are all left over from Guangling and Danyang over the years. And the Yuzhang county soldiers that he has newly expanded in the local area are all left in Haihun and Nanchang. "

Zhuge Jin nodded and looked at Zhuge Liang. Both brothers saw a glimmer of good news.

Seeing his elder brother's inquiring eyes, Zhuge Liang took the initiative to analyze and report: "Brother, I think this is a good thing for our army. The soldiers of Yuzhang County have not suffered from leaving their hometowns, and many of them don't know how many times Zuo Rong betrayed his master.

The soldiers from Guangling and Danyang counties had suffered much more and wanted to return home much more. They were also well aware of all of Zuo Rong's past misdeeds, which was why they were so easily persuaded to surrender by our army today.

In my opinion, it is better for us to make a concerted effort and spend a few more days to capture Chaisang as well, and completely tighten the pocket at the mouth of Pengli Lake. In this way, whether it is the route coming from the upper reaches or going down the river downstream, our navy will block it.

If we fight with Zuo Rong again later, we can catch him in a trap. If the battle goes against us and he wants to escape, he can only leave Yuzhang by land over the mountains. In that case, he won’t be able to take away too much supplies and wealth. Most of the soldiers will choose to stay and surrender because they can’t stand the long march over the mountains, thus avoiding the pain of long-term wandering and pursuit.”

Zhuge Jin couldn't help but be secretly astonished when he heard this, thinking that his second brother had just won a small victory, and suddenly he was like a newborn calf that is not afraid of a tiger, and his appetite suddenly increased several times.

How could Zuo Rong still have at least 50,000 to 60,000 troops? Zhuge Liang was not thinking about how to defeat the enemy, but how to prevent the enemy's main force from escaping and continuing to flee after defeating them.

You haven't even won yet, but you're already thinking about annihilating the enemy?

However, what Zhuge Liang said made sense, but he was just thinking too far ahead and had not yet started. Zhuge Jin did not want to dampen his brother's enthusiasm, so he continued to ask the two surrendered officers:

"Do you know the composition of Zuo Rong's troops in Chaisang City? Our scouts said earlier that there are about 5,000 to 6,000 enemy soldiers in Chaisang?"

Li Yi quickly added: "That's true, and there should be more than 6,000 people. Among them, there are more than 1,000 county soldiers from Guangling and Danyang, and there are about 2,000 local soldiers from Yuzhang, and 2,000 believers who came here.

However, the captain must not underestimate the two thousand believers from other counties. These believers are not like the county soldiers. The county soldiers were often forced to do so out of helplessness, while the believers who were willing to follow Zuo Rong across states and counties and survived to this day were all extremely fanatical and would not hesitate to risk their lives.

The followers who came from other counties are even more terrifying than those newly recruited from this county. These people have not changed their minds despite the trials and tribulations of life. Although they are not strong in martial arts, they are fearless in battle and will not retreat even if they are seriously injured. "

After hearing the surrendered general describe the fanatical believers in Zuo Rong's army in such a terrible way, the Zhuge brothers had to pay more attention.

Zhuge Jin looked at his second brother and asked in an inspiring tone: "What do you think? Do you still plan to persuade them to surrender again and try to take Chaisang? Or do you want to quit while you are ahead and continue to go south to Mount Lushan and find a way to form a pincer attack with your uncle and Yunchang?"

Zhuge Jin pointed to the map while speaking, so that his younger brother could understand quickly. Mount Lushan is the scenic spot Mount Lushan in Jiangxi in later generations. It was called this name in the Han Dynasty and is located on the west bank of Poyang Lake/Pengli Lake.

Because of the existence of this mountain, the lake will be slightly squeezed and narrowed in this area. And there is no other county between Haihun County and Chaisang County.

Even if they cannot take Chaisang, if Zhuge's army can ensure that they have absolute naval superiority, they can also set up camp at a strategic location on Mount Lushan, close to the mountain and the lake, and cut off the communication between Haihun and Chaisang.

Of course, you must camp near mountains and lakes and cannot camp directly in the mountains.

Firstly, Mount Lushan is steep and there is no need to occupy too high a place; secondly, it is difficult to get water, and if one only pursues a high position, he will become Ma Su.

In this way, we can threaten the flank of Haihun County from the south, and cut off the waterway for the enemy troops in Haihun and Nanchang to leave Jiangxi through the Dahu Lake in the future.

At the same time, it can form a pincer attack with Guan Yu's army heading east along Xiushui River in the west.

Of course, the above explanations are all from a bird's eye view. When Zhuge Jin talked to Zhuge Liang, his words would not be so complicated and detailed.

Both brothers are extremely smart. They can understand what someone means with just a few words of advice, or even just pointing to a point on a map or giving a look.

As expected, Zhuge Liang quickly understood his elder brother's compromise and prudent plan, and immediately analyzed the advantages and disadvantages of this alternative plan.

He looked at the map and spoke thoughtfully, "Brother, this alternative strategy of turning to Mount Lushan, defending the dangerous area, and blocking the enemy's throat is better than the strategy of taking Chaisang first because it has a greater chance of success and there is no problem of not being able to take it.

Our army took Pengze today, which was a surprise attack. It is estimated that the Chaisang defenders did not know that Pengze was lost. According to the map, the Chaisang defenders would receive the report of the defeat in one day at the earliest.

If all the boats on the big lake were seized and blocked by us, the messengers reporting the defeat would not be able to cross the lake immediately and would have to take a detour to find another boat. Then it is possible that the Chaisang defenders would not know the bad news until two or three days later at the latest.

The defenders of Haihun County should also receive the news of defeat and react in two to three days. Judging from this speed, our army can rest a little tonight and march straight into Mount Lushan tomorrow morning. The enemy will not have time to react, and we can definitely camp on the east side of Mount Lushan, next to the lake."

Zhuge Liang analyzed the stability of his elder brother's strategy, paused for a moment, and then talked about the shortcoming of his elder brother's strategy that it was not greedy enough:

"However, this method has two drawbacks. First, when our army really defeats Zuo Rong in the future, we will not be able to completely wipe out Zuo Rong's army. Once the Chaisang defenders hear that the main forces of Haihun or Nanchang have collapsed, they will inevitably scatter like birds and beasts, or flee to other places along the Yangtze River. With the fanaticism of Zuo Rong's army, it will inevitably corrupt and harm many places.

Secondly, with Zuo Rong's military discipline, if they planned to abandon Chaisang and other places and retreat, and there were enough river boats, they would definitely plunder Chaisang before leaving, completely robbing the people of their remaining wealth and food reserves, causing great harm - didn't Zuo Rong do this twice when he was in Guangling and Danyang? How can we allow such thieves to roam around and harm the people? "

Zhuge Liang's focus was entirely on the style of work of Zuo Rong's army.

This was an army that would thoroughly plunder and loot wherever it went and before retreating in defeat.

Zhuge Jin was also very clear about this. When Liu Bei first conquered Guangling County, he could not buy any surplus grain from the people because the savings of the rich families in Guangling had been robbed two years ago.

Bu Lianshi's father was originally a minor official, but her family was so poor that they were robbed by Zuo Rong's army.

Many princes at the end of the Han Dynasty had to exercise some restraint when it came to robbery, because they were afraid of offending the powerful or the aristocratic families, or because they needed to save face and reputation.

Even Yuan Shu needed to rely on others, such as recruiting various bandits, letting them take action before recruiting them, and then issuing an imperial edict to launder their wealth and collect the imperial edict fees.

The only ones who dared to rob without distinction were the Xiliang Army and various troops that took advantage of fanatical superstition. They could completely plunder the land without any psychological burden, and they didn't need fame anyway, and they would never come back after plundering.

Zuo Rong was even more disgusting than Zhang Lu, because Zhang Lu was a "bandit" after all. He hid in Hanzhong with nowhere to roam, and the villagers saw him everywhere. Zuo Rong was a roving bandit, who ravaged one county and then moved to another, and ravaged three counties in three years.

We must put an end to all this in Yuzhang! We must completely eliminate the entire clan of Zuo Rong! All the eggs in the house must be fried!

Zhuge Jin's sense of responsibility was also aroused, and he finally decided to play it bigger. Even if the difficulty increased, he had to ensure that he could do his best.

He wanted to treat Jiangxi as the base of the Zhuge family and develop and farm there. This land would have to be managed for a long time, and he could not do any of the short-sighted things that Zuo Rong could do.

Zhuge Jin pondered helplessly and said, "Aliang is right. We should not be afraid of difficulties. Then we should not rush to join forces with uncle and Yunchang to form a pincer attack. We should think about how to capture Chaisang before the enemy reacts.

But we were able to persuade Pengze to surrender today because we had more soldiers and generals, and our military strength was twice that of the defenders. After taking Pengze, our military strength increased by another 1,200 people, and our total strength was only about 4,500, which was only 70% of the Chaisang defenders.

It is extremely difficult for the attackers to persuade the defenders, who outnumber them, to surrender, even with the imperial edict and the righteous cause. We can no longer count on the Guangling and Danyang soldiers to defect. We must think of new bargaining chips to undermine the enemy's will to resist. Ah Liang, do you have any ideas?"

This time Zhuge Jin was genuinely seeking advice and was not testing his brother.

Because this idea had just occurred to him and he had not made up his mind before, let alone thinking about it in advance.

After all, Zhuge Liang was just about to turn seventeen (still a dozen days away, he would be seventeen after the Chinese New Year), and although he had read through the Art of War by Sun and Wu, it was only his first day of application.

He thought about it for a long time but couldn't come up with a solution.

In the end, the two brothers inspired each other and discussed for a quarter of an hour before they each gained something.

Zhuge Liang suddenly suggested: "Brother, I think it would be good to piece together the ideas we just discussed - the key to attacking the hearts of the enemies in Chaisang is to undermine the will of the fanatics in the enemy army.

Therefore, we can criticize those generals in Zuo Rong's army who claimed to believe in Buddhism, and expose that they said that they amassed wealth and plundered in order to perform Buddhist activities, but in fact only a very small part of the proceeds from the plunder was used to provide alms to monks and build pagodas and monasteries.

I think after we capture Pengze County, we will be able to find a lot of valuables in the homes of the monks and generals who were killed in the city. We can show these valuables to the captured fanatical believers to let them know how hypocritical their generals are. Then we will send some of the believers whose faith has collapsed the most back to Chaisang and let them spread rumors secretly to undermine the prestige of those monks and generals who have amassed wealth.

On the other hand, as you just said, Zuo Rong established his prestige by showing off, promoting miracles and grand scenes. For example, he used hundreds of thousands of kilograms of copper to melt the Buddha statue. Such a tall, majestic and golden object can best arouse the worship and submission of ignorant people.

Therefore, we can also find a way to get some magical things and show them to those fanatics, so that they know that Zuo Rong is a false believer, and even spread the word that those who follow Zuo Rong's heresy will fall into hell and suffer forever in the future.

After all, those ignorant people, if you want to frighten them and make them change their minds immediately, that's the only way. If you talk to them about reason, they may not understand. As for how to drive out evil spirits and superstitions in the future, it requires long-term and gradual planning, and it cannot be eradicated right now."

Of the two brainstorming ideas Zhuge Liang summarized, the first one actually had more of his own contribution, while the second one obviously had more of Zhuge Jin's contribution -

In terms of normal wisdom and strategy, unless Zhuge Jin knew the historical answer to the battle in advance, he would be no better than his seventeen-year-old brother if he relied on his own calculations.

But when it comes to technical means, relying on foresight in science and technology to scare the ancients and superstitious people, Zhuge Jin is clearly at an advantage.

Even if it was just making some "Kongming lanterns" and creating flying miracles to spread some propaganda posters in Chaisang City, Zhuge Jin was still good at it.

Who could have made Zhuge Liang, who was only seventeen years old, unable to invent the Kongming lantern? Unless his elder brother deliberately created a god and gave the credit to him.

"Okay, let's rest for a night today and let the soldiers recover their strength. Tomorrow our army will cross the Pengli Lake and set up camp in the south of Chaisang City to prepare for the siege and the conquest. The details will be based on what we discussed tonight." Zhuge Jin finally made the decision.

I brought my younger brother along to brainstorm and inspire each other, and our efficiency was indeed much higher.

(End of this chapter)