My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 694: If work cannot be stopped, then the labor costs of staying and traveling are equal

After receiving Zhuge Liang's letter, more than half a month had passed in a flash.

The entire early and mid-March is the busiest farming season of the year. All parties are busy with spring ploughing and encouraging farmers, and have no energy to do anything else.

One day at the end of March, a fleet of Liu Bei's army sailed down the Han River from Hanzhong and quietly arrived in Xiangyang.

Zhuge Liang was on this fleet to meet his lord, report and ask for instructions in person, and catch up with his elder brother.

The size of the accompanying force that escorted Zhuge Liang was also not small, numbering nearly 10,000 people.

The commander-in-chief was Wei Yan, and the soldiers under his command were mainly Danyang soldiers and the elite Bandunman mountain soldiers of Wang Ping, who numbered 4,000.

Wang Ping himself did not come with them. He is now the commander of Hanzhong County, responsible for the Qinling defense on the northern line of Hanzhong.

Zhuge Liang transferred Wei Yan from Yizhou and brought 10,000 soldiers with him, which was enough to show that the situation in Yizhou had become much more stable than last year.

The veteran soldiers of Liu Bei's army who remain in the local area can be further reduced, and some of the troops can be released out of Sichuan and deployed to the front lines in other Kanto states.

Zhuge Liang did not inform Liu Bei in advance of his arrival, so Liu Bei did not go out of the city to greet him. It was not until the fleet docked at the pier north of Xiangyang that someone rushed back to the city to inform Liu Bei.

Given Liu Bei's respect for talented people, Zhuge Liang would definitely be welcomed. Zhuge Liang was well aware of this and came quietly, knowing that his elder brother was also in Xiangyang.

The lord personally welcomes him, which is called courtesy to the wise and humble, and can be passed on as a good story.

But when the lord comes, the eldest brother must follow. It is easy to be disrespectful to the elder brother to welcome the younger brother according to etiquette.

So in the end, Liu Bei and Zhuge Jin just greeted them briefly at the gate of the Jingzhou Mu Mansion.

"My lord! Big brother!" Zhuge Liang saw Liu Bei standing at the door from afar, and quickly dismounted. Holding a feather fan, he quickly stepped forward and bowed without any excessive formalities.

"Thank you for your hard work, sir. It is rare in ancient and modern times that all the complicated issues in Shu can be resolved in one year." Liu Bei didn't waste any words. He stepped forward and gave him a light support, then personally pulled him into the door.

"My lord, my elder brother, Yunchang Yide, worked together to fight for northern Jing. This is the real military achievement. I am just doing my duty." Zhuge Liang said modestly and hurried to catch up.

Zhuge Jin, who was standing next to him, just nodded, then turned around and walked in slowly without anyone pulling him.

After returning to the hall and sitting down, Liu Bei straightened his clothes and then eagerly asked Zhuge Liang about his experiences in Shu over the past year.

He was not in a hurry to talk about government affairs, but instead cared about trivial matters in life. Zhuge Liang could only chat with him and talk about some family matters with his elder brother.

As they chatted, Liu Bei couldn't help asking about some interesting details about governing Shu.

The accounting articles that reported the data had already been mentioned in the previous letters, so there was no need to repeat them in person. When Zhuge Liang was asked about it, he seemed to remember something and ordered his attendants to present several gifts.

As the attendant went outside to fetch it, Zhuge Liang explained, "The fire-gas steelmaking workshop in Qianwei County began trial production last September. The efficiency of fire-gas in melting steel far surpasses that of charcoal and coke. After several months of testing, the quality of the steel produced is far superior to the original cast-iron steel."

Furthermore, I arranged for the famous craftsman Pu Yuan to set up a workshop in Jianwei County to forge weapons and armor with fire-fire steel. After forging, he quenched it with water from the Shu River. Most of the swords produced can cut through iron like mud.

However, the current production is not large, so I have only carefully selected a few dozen pieces of armor this time, and you can use them to reward your generals."

When Liu Bei heard this, he immediately became excited.

He was not well educated and had no idea about the accounts of internal affairs management, so he handed them over to his subordinates.

So if Zhuge Liang talked to him about "how much the production of well salt increased last year, and how much the production of Shu brocade and steel increased", Liu Bei would definitely be confused and lack intuitive feelings.

But when Zhuge Liang directly produced physical objects as solid evidence of his political achievements, such as swords and armor, Liu Bei became very interested.

In any case, the governance of Jianwei County has actually improved the military production of Liu Bei's camp.

While Liu Bei was daydreaming, the attendants sent by Zhuge Liang had already returned with a group of people, each carrying a lot of things.

Liu Bei looked up and couldn't help but laugh, because he clearly saw that among the pile of weapons and armor, there were the Qinglong Sword and the Snake Spear, as well as several traditional weapons shaped like lances. As for swords and knives, they were even more complete.

There is no doubt that when Zhuge Liang ordered Pu Yuan to make these weapons, he did not deliberately innovate in terms of shape. The shapes of many weapons are still exactly the same as before, only the materials and craftsmanship have been changed.

Liu Bei looked at the newly forged Qinglong sword and snake spear with great interest, but did not dare to touch the blade. He just took a silk scarf and wiped it gently on the blade.

As a result, a breeze blew, and the end of the scarf floated onto the blade, and was cut in half with a "swish", slowly falling to the ground.

"What a great sword!" Liu Bei was delighted and quickly ordered, "Go, call Yunchang and Yide as well!"

Guan Yu has been recovering from his injuries recently, and Zhuge Liang came suddenly today and went straight to the Jingzhou Mu Mansion, so Guan Yu was unable to greet him immediately.

Guan Yu had his bone scraped and Wu Pu told him that he should not move for a hundred days. There were still more than ten days left to complete the hundred days, so Liu Bei had been keeping an eye on him.

But today, seeing the new Qinglong sword, Liu Bei felt that Yunchang would definitely like it, so he could make an exception. At most, he could tell him not to hold the sword with his injured arm, but just to use one hand to practice.

Liu Bei himself quickly walked to the front of a pair of swords, slowly drew out the blades, carefully stared at the quenched patterns on the swords, and then played with them a few times, and immediately he could hear the humming sound of a dragon.

Part of the sword has slightly azure lines, but the whole sword is not of the same color. It is obvious that it is made of the best steel ever seen.

"It's a really good sword. The steel made from fire-fueled steelmaking is much better than that made from coke. Unfortunately, only Jianwei County has the underground fire well where fire is emitting directly. This method cannot be promoted to other counties.

After the Northern Expedition succeeds and the Central Plains is restored, the fire wells and salt wells in Qianwei County must be placed under the direct management of the court, with officials sent by the Shaofu, and cannot be managed by the three envoys of Yizhou or the governor of Qianwei. "

While Liu Bei was praising the sword in his hand, he was also thinking about his long-term plans for the future.

He decided to control the natural gas well resources in Jianwei County as strategic materials directly under the imperial court, and would not allow local governments to interfere in the future.

This also prevented the emergence of new local forces in Shu after Liu Bei went to Chang'an and Luoyang himself.

After all, Shu was geographically too isolated, and with the transportation and communication conditions of the Han Dynasty, it was easy for it to have a tendency to live a secluded life.

Now Liu Bei can rely on Zhuge Liang to govern Shu, and he is absolutely relieved. But this period is the preparation and farming period before the Northern Expedition in the next few years. When the Northern Expedition begins in the future, Zhuge Liang will definitely be of great use and will not be left in Shu forever.

Liu Bei performed a few sword moves and praised them for a while. Soon Guan Yu and Zhang Fei also arrived and saw the new swords and spears. As expected, they were also very excited.

Zhang Fei picked up the new snake spear and went to the courtyard to practice it all the way from beginning to end, and he would not stop no matter who told him to.

As for Guan Yu, he was still closely guarded by Liu Bei himself, so he had to suppress his impulse. In the end, he just used his uninjured arm to wave a few times to try out the feel.

After the test, Guan Yu put the sword back into the sword rack and bowed to Zhuge Liang: "Thank you, sir, for the sword!" Guan Yu was not nostalgic, as ancient weapons were prone to severe wear and tear.

It's impossible to repeatedly repair the durability of a magical weapon like in a game.

Especially since Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were constantly on the battlefield, it was considered economical to replace their swords and spears every few years. In fact, Guan Yu had been in battle for 25 years and had already replaced several swords, so it didn't matter if he replaced one now.

After testing the weapons, the brothers rubbed and knocked the armor to see if the materials used were solid.

After the novelty wore off, Liu Bei ordered wine and food to be served to welcome Zhuge Liang.

Originally, he just wanted to chat with Zhuge Liang first, and it wasn't time for dinner yet. But Zhuge Liang brought so many gifts, and Guan Yu and Zhang Fei had tried them all. Since everyone was here, he might as well have a few drinks to welcome him.

We are all family, so there is no need to be so particular about formalities.

After all, after this meal, everyone would go their separate ways in a few days - according to the plan previously set by Zhuge Jin, Zhang Fei would lead his troops through Xinyang Road, cross Tongbai Mountain, and head to Runan County.

There he led an army northward against the Ru River to threaten Xu Du in order to support Liu Bei's army's offensive against Xinye and Wancheng.

Zhuge Liang brought Wei Yan with him this time to cooperate with Zhang Fei. In Zhuge Jin's plan, the battle across Tongbai Mountain to the north might require the participation of some mountain warfare troops to ensure that the combat effectiveness of the entire army is sufficient to adapt to various battlefield environments.

At present, Liu Bei's best mountain warfare troops were definitely in Yizhou. Therefore, it was just right to transfer Wei Yan from Hanzhong to Zhang Fei as his deputy general, and he could also bring some of the Bantunman mountain soldiers.

Zhuge Liang himself took advantage of Wei Yan's dispatch and followed along, letting Wei Yan temporarily act as his bodyguard.

At the welcoming banquet, after three rounds of drinks, Liu Bei asked Zhuge Liang about his ideas for governing Shu in the next two years and why he wanted to find something to do for the garrison in Shu.

Liu Bei's idea was very simple. He still hoped to save money and food and devote all his efforts to the Northern Expedition. If the benefits of other military operations were not great enough and he could not fight to support the war and earn more than he spent, then he should stop. Anyway, there were no other princes who could threaten Liu Bei at present, or the journey was too far.

On his way here, Zhuge Liang had apparently already thought of the answer to this question, but he couldn't express it clearly in his previous letters, so he came specifically to express it in person.

So he immediately answered fluently: "My lord's inquiry is indeed to the point. When my lord entered Chengdu, in front of the soldiers of both armies, we made an oath to 'near the north within three years'. Now there are only two years left.

When I govern Shu, I always keep the remaining two years in mind and guide my military, political and civil affairs deployment, so that all the strategies I have implemented can be effective within the next two years. Other strategies that will take longer to take effect will be put on hold and discussed again after the world is stabilized in the future.

However, in the next two years, it is not a waste of money and effort to let the Yizhou garrison use its troops appropriately. I have been planning for a long time and think that it can be done in a way that is worth the effort and cost. Moreover, it will allow the lord to have an additional 100,000 combat troops within two years.

Even more so, my lord, you can not only train and gain combat experience for the former troops left behind by Liu Zhang of Yizhou, but also allow the former surrendered troops left behind by Liu Biao of Jingzhou to gain combat experience as well.”

Liu Bei nodded and gave a slight support, indicating that Zhuge Liang should first tell him who he wanted to fight.

Upon seeing this, Zhuge Liang recounted his plan: After Liu Zhang was annexed, only the northern counties of Yizhou were actually controlled by Liu Bei's army, while the Yuexi County, Zangke County and Yizhou County (later Jianning County) in the south now actually had barbarian chiefs who refused to submit to the king.

Only the most remote Yongchang County was relatively peaceful. Li Hui, who came from Jianning County, had actively served Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang and was helping Liu Bei's camp to do its work seriously. His family was also quite powerful in Yongchang, and after establishing contact with Li Hui, he also actively cooperated with the rule of Liu Bei's camp.

Therefore, in history, among the four Nanzhong counties established in the Eastern Han Dynasty, three were actually not subject to management, and only one was subject to management.

Then, Zhuge Liang gave a brief explanation of the barbarian chieftains and powerful people in the three counties, namely Gao Ding of Yuexi County, Zhu Bao of Zangke County, and Yong Kai of Jianning County.

This answer may surprise some readers, because there is no Meng Huo involved - perhaps because it is 13 or 14 years earlier than when Zhuge Liang pacified Nanzhong in history. Meng Huo, who is a dozen years younger, does not have such great prestige and ambition.

Moreover, in history, Meng Huo knew nothing at the beginning, and had no interest in the court. He was uneducated and did not understand politics. When people like Zhu Bao and Gao Ding rose up, they contacted him to work together, and he did it.

This is also why in history, after Zhuge Liang conquered the enemy, he allowed the bewitched tribes like Meng Huo to surrender, while Zhu Bao and Gao Ding, who were the first to raise the banner of rebellion, were killed.

And when Zhuge Liang said that Gao Ding and others were currently unstable, he was by no means wronging them.

For example, according to the "Records of the Three Kingdoms" and "Records of Huayang", Gao Ding attempted to establish himself in Yuexi County immediately after Liu Bei conquered Chengdu and subdued Liu Zhang. He also attacked Xindao County (now Ganluo County in Liangshan and Hanyuan County in Ya'an), which bordered Shu County and Yuexi, from Yuexi County, but was repelled by Li Yan.

It can be seen that Gao Ding and his men had always been dissatisfied with Liu Bei, not just after his death. It was just that when Liu Bei was still alive, they could not make any waves, and they established their own county and attacked one or two counties in the neighboring counties without success, so they were surrendered by Liu Bei.

Historically, not long after Liu Bei entered Sichuan, he was threatened by Cao Cao to fight the Battle of Hanzhong, which was a protracted battle. He did not have the energy to deal with guys like Gao Ding and Zhu Bao, so he could only hold his nose and appease them.

Now the powerful people in the three southern counties were also unwilling to obey the government. In addition, Zhuge Liang's governance of Shu was very strong, so some tribes must have benefited from trade and were willing to follow Zhuge Liang. However, some tribes did not get the first bite of soup and were preempted by their neighbors. They were reduced in power everywhere without any benefits, which would further intensify their resistance.

Zhuge Liang felt that the people of Nanzhong were barbaric and reckless, and would obey the strong. If he simply used appeasement, the effect might not be good.

These barbarians were not well-informed. When Liu Bei's army defeated Liu Zhang with such great ease, they did not know the details and did not know how powerful Liu Bei's army was.

Therefore, for those who are ignorant of the world, do not read books, and do not understand the news, we must beat them up personally to let them know how powerful the military strength of Liu Bei's camp is and that it is not on the same level as Liu Zhang. Only then will they be really afraid.

It wasn't that Zhuge Liang wanted to attack them, it was that they themselves were ill-informed and arrogant.

Finally, Zhuge Liang couldn't help but add one more sentence - when Nanzhong is really pacified, they can go downstream along the Pu River (Red River) from Yongchang County and rush straight to the heart of Jiaozhi County. At that time, they can attack by land and sea, quickly and completely wipe out the remaining troops of Shi Xie, and completely eliminate all separatist forces in the southern border of our Han Dynasty.

This deduction was similar to what his elder brother Zhuge Jin said more than half a month ago. It turned out that the two brothers had similar views.

After listening to these analyses, Liu Bei had a preliminary understanding of Zhuge Liang's plan to choose an opportunity in the next two years to deploy limited troops in the south and expand territory through training.

However, more questions followed. Liu Bei thought about it and couldn't help asking one by one:

"Sir, you said that there are many forces in the southern counties that can be divided and disintegrated. If a war breaks out in the future, how many enemies will we need to deal with and how many local forces can we win over and appease? How many troops will our army need to send to fight? How much will it cost?"

Zhuge Liang came prepared and said confidently: "Based on my research in Yizhou over the past year, our army will mainly face the chieftains of Yuexi and Zangke counties.

As for Jianning County, Yong Kai must be subdued. There are still about half of the forces that can be won over, including Li Hui's family and his allies, and a young Jianning Barbarian King named Meng Huo.

As for Yongchang County, it has been forced to cut off contact with the court only because the roads are cut off. However, Li Hui has repeatedly promised me that as long as the roads to Yuexi and Jianning are opened up, he can ensure that all counties in Yongchang County will respond to the lord.

Therefore, of the four counties in Nanzhong, as long as we conquer two and a half of them, we can still win over one and a half. When our army goes south, we can let the friendly tribes in Nanzhong bear part of the food and fodder, and rely on the spoils of war to bear part of the burden. In this way, the cost of the expedition will be greatly reduced and will not drag down the national treasury.

In my opinion, a maximum of 30,000 troops, in just half a year, would be enough to accomplish this. The heat and humidity of southern China make it impractical to deploy troops in summer and autumn, but the cooler winter and spring weather allow for this. Therefore, I plan to launch the general offensive this winter. Prior to this, the relatively cool weather of Zangke County allows for an attack during the autumn harvest. The various counties in southern China can also be pacified at different times, so there's no need to rush them all together.

Zhuge Liang spoke eloquently and also made some analysis of the geographical environment and climate of Nanzhong.

It can be seen that he has done real homework over the past year or so, and did not simply say that the south is hot and humid. At least, in his opinion, Zangke County is a special case.

After all, in later generations in Jiangnan and Sichuan, there were still many people who couldn't stand the summer heat and ran to Guizhou to escape the heat. Hangzhou and Chongqing were over 40 degrees Celsius, while Guizhou was generally only around 20 degrees Celsius.

Therefore, it seems that there is no problem in singling out Zangke County and not having to attack it in winter.

(End of this chapter)