My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 718 Fa Xiaozhi's direct attack on Yue Xi
Gan Ning's sudden attack of a tropical disease more or less disrupted Zhuge Liang's rhythm.

Zhuge Liang did not have a suitable candidate for a new commander-in-chief at the moment, so he put the matter aside for the time being and shifted his work focus back to the internal affairs of the northern counties of Yizhou and encouraging farmers to engage in spring ploughing.

By the way, he also took care of the post-war construction, corvée planning, and road and shipping preparations in Zangke County.

Anyway, the integration of Yuexi County will have to be delayed until at least early May, when the busy spring farming season is completely over. And now it is only February, there is still plenty of time.

It was in the 12th year of Jian'an that Liu Bei completely took over Liu Zhang's power, and now it is the 15th year of Jian'an.

In other words, it has been exactly three years since Liu Bei's camp took control of Shu, and it has been the fourth time they have carried out spring plowing.

According to the plan set by the Zhuge brothers, last year more than half of the paddy fields in Yizhou promoted Linyi rice, with two crops a year. This year, naturally, all places in the territory that can grow double-season rice are planting it.

The work of encouraging farmers to increase production finally reached its peak. Throughout February and March, agricultural officials in all counties of Yizhou were extremely busy.

Zhuge Liang personally took charge of the administration of officials and implemented the policy of encouraging agriculture. In remote counties where there was a lack of agricultural technicians, technical experience, and supporting production tools, Zhuge Liang met with them and implemented targeted solutions.

The Huoqijing Steel Plant in Jianwei County was operating day and night, with craftsmen taking turns to work hard.

Around the steel mill, several blacksmith shops and farm tool workshops built and operated by the private sector are newly opened every month. The steel farm tools and other new production tools produced are all in great demand and are sold in large quantities.

The promotion of Linyi rice throughout Yizhou brought about a huge demand for agricultural production. Coupled with the costs of water conservancy construction, shipping, and road preparation in recent years, all the production tools that increased production could be sold out immediately.

After the industrial chain was established, the private sector's interest in "heavy handicrafts" was no longer limited to steelmaking and making steel equipment, but gradually covered other supporting simple machinery industries, extending along the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain, and finally forming an increasingly complex and professional division of labor and cooperation.

In the past few years, private industry and commerce in the area of Zigong County and Neijiang County in later generations have developed extremely rapidly, and have even spread to areas near Yibin and Luzhou in later generations.

As industrial supporting facilities became more and more professional and complex, and the government had a strong demand to promote new agricultural technologies on a large scale from top to bottom, many government-run "technical training schools" appeared in Jianwei County.

These schools did not teach the Four Books and Five Classics, but only simple agricultural techniques and other new production techniques that did not need to be kept secret. The training targets could be small agricultural officials from various places, or spontaneous people who were eager to learn from the people. They even welcomed people from local powerful families to come and study.

The cost of this kind of training is also very low. For minor officials with official status, the corresponding government will naturally bear the expenses. For powerful families to send people to study, they naturally need the family to give enough money.

As for those who are learning on their own, if they don't want to pay or can't afford it, they can just audit the course for free. The only difference is that they won't have the opportunity to practice and can only watch.

After all, many production technology experiences cannot be understood just by reading, and the learning effect will be greatly reduced.

Such a strict system for training production technology talents, with the government as the bottom line and endorsement, ensured that new crops and new agricultural production methods could be fully promoted in Shu within just three years. New salt-making, iron-smelting and water conservancy construction technologies were also quickly rolled out.

Two or three months passed quickly in the busyness, and the early spring rice planting in the whole territory of Yizhou was also smoothly implemented.

Zhuge Liang predicted that the total grain output in Yizhou this year would increase by more than 10% or even 20% compared to last year.

With the completion of the repair of major water conservancy projects, the amount of water conservancy projects to be built and the amount of corvee labor to be levied this year will be less than last year, and the corresponding grain consumption for corvée labor will also be reduced.

Therefore, there will be a large surplus of autumn grain this year, which will be just right for launching a full-scale military campaign in South China in the winter, and can also subsidize the Northern Expedition that may begin next year.

Time passed quickly and it was April of the fifteenth year of Jian'an.

According to the previously set schedule, there is only a month or so left to prepare for the operation to take control of Yuexi County.

So, one day in mid-April, after listening to the report on this year's spring plowing and agricultural promotion work, Zhuge Liang left Chengdu and headed south to Nan'an County (now Leshan), which is the border between Shu County and Qianwei County.

Zhuge Liang went to Nan'an to inspect Fa Zheng's preparatory work in Nan'an County and discuss with Fa Zheng the final personnel arrangements for pacifying Yuexi.

Starting from February, Fa Zheng was transferred by Zhuge Liang to Nan'an for temporary stay.

Because that place will be the base for the future attack on Yuexi, troops and food have been gathered here in advance. Fa Zheng has been working there for three months.

Upon learning that Zhuge Lingjun was coming to inspect the work, Fa Zheng certainly did not dare to be negligent. He made preparations to welcome him in advance and even worked hard to speed up some progress.

……

On the 12th day, Zhuge Liang's fleet arrived in Nan'an.

Fa Zheng went north for dozens of miles in advance and waited at the dock on the Minjiang River.

When Zhuge Liang saw Fa Zheng walking so far to greet him at the old dock, he knew that the channel improvement at the mouth of the Minjiang River and the Moshui River had not been completed, and the problems of undercurrents and whirlpools still existed, strangling this major artery of Shu County's water transportation.

The navigation conditions at the mouths of the Minjiang River and the Dadu River can be improved through human efforts to build water conservancy projects. This idea was also provided to Zhuge Liang by his elder brother Zhuge Jin.

Zhuge Liang himself had not estimated the specific amount of work to do, and had never managed such water conservancy projects before, so everything could only be evaluated as work was done, and practical difficulties could only be overcome slowly. No one knew how much would ultimately be invested.

Zhuge Jin was able to be so sure because he knew that in the Tang Dynasty, when the Leshan Giant Buddha was built, the nearby corner of the mountain was chiseled away, making the river channel, which originally converging at a sharp angle, a little slower and less turbulent.

He felt that there was not much of a generation gap between the construction technology of the Tang Dynasty and the Eastern Han Dynasty. Moreover, under the governance of his second brother, Shu was experiencing great development in various industries, commerce and technologies, and the level of productivity was already incomparable to the same period in history. It would not be a big step to carry out some of the Tang Dynasty's projects.

Zhuge Liang was pushing this matter now, but it was only based on his unconditional trust in his elder brother, and he felt that it would definitely work. As long as the pace of corvée input was controlled and the speed of consumption of manpower, money, food and tools was ensured to be gradual, there was no need to rush for results.

After observing the hydrology of the Minjiang River and getting ashore, Zhuge Liang chatted leisurely with Fa Zheng and casually asked about the progress of the assessment.

After more than two months of hard work, although Fa Zheng has not yet produced any decisive results, he has tested the depth and roughly estimated the scale of the entire project.

He said realistically: "Based on the scale of corvée labor invested in repairing Dujiangyan last year, it will take about two to three years to completely solve the whirlpool problem at the confluence of the Minjiang River and the Moshui River. If we must speed up, we will have to impose more corvée labor.

The two rivers can meet here because they are blocked by Leshan. Because the northern corner of Leshan is abrupt and hard, and has not been eroded much by the Moshui River for thousands of years, the Moshui River and the Minjiang River collide head-on here, and are extremely turbulent.

I had the laborers dig for a month or two, and finally realized how difficult it was to dig this corner of the mountain. After removing the surface soil, the inside was full of black rock. "

Fa Zheng couldn't stop complaining and recounted in detail all the difficulties he had encountered in the past two months.

Western Sichuan is also a place with relatively active geological activities. Mountains made of granite and basalt are common, and Leshan is no exception. Fa Zheng encountered a tough problem this time. If he followed the old construction method, he could only learn from Li Bing in the pre-Qin Dynasty to build the Dujiangyan Irrigation System, burning fire and pouring cold water, alternating between hot and cold to hope that the rocks would crack.

Fortunately, the Zhuge brothers improved the gunpowder. Now Liu Bei's camp can drill holes in the stones and bury black gunpowder, trying to break large blocks of the mountain from the rock foundation at a lower cost.

From this perspective, the construction efficiency is higher than that of the Tang Dynasty in history. After all, the original black gunpowder of the Tang Dynasty is not as good as the one made by Zhuge Liang today. It is normal that Zhuge Liang took three years to complete something that originally took the Tang Dynasty people more than ten years to complete.

However, even though it was so fast, Zhuge Liang was still very cautious and said there was no need to rush.

He thought about it carefully and gave Fa Zheng the latest instructions: "Does it take two or three years? Then don't invest too much, just spend within your means each year.

The population in Shu County, especially the counties around Nan'an, which are idle during the winter, will be used as the limit. The scale of the stall will be determined by the amount of corvée that is suitable for collection. Within one or two years, the lord will restart the Northern Expedition.

This work may not be completed until the day of the Northern Expedition, so it is not appropriate to invest too much at once. It is just to give the local people who are idle in the winter something to do.

Transportation in Shu is inconvenient, and it would be too costly to use the manpower and material resources of one place to support other places. Therefore, an important principle of our civil administration is to try to find a way and use for manpower and money and food in the local area, even if it is a little slower. "

Zhuge Liang's adjustments can be regarded as setting a pragmatic tone for the navigation management of the Minjiang River and Dadu River in Leshan. He was neither reckless nor procrastinating, and everything was based on the actual situation.

After hearing this, Fa Zheng felt completely reassured, knowing that Ling Jun was not unhappy about the unexpected delay in the project progress.

He was only going to stay here for a few months. After helping to get the ball started, he wouldn't have to worry about the subsequent work. His subsequent work focus would definitely be to pacify Yuexi.

As for the water conservancy project here, as long as the person who takes over in the future does not make any mistakes and advances steadily, Fa Zheng will definitely be credited for the success in the future.

After all, things like this are most difficult at the beginning, and you need to evaluate and adjust the plan according to the actual situation. Once you understand the difficulty, the daily physical work will be much easier to manage.

After putting down their bags, the two rode side by side, and headed south along the Minjiang River. Fa Zheng only slightly controlled the speed of his horse to ensure that his horse lagged behind Zhuge Liang by half a body length, so as not to affect their casual conversation.

Along the way, Zhuge Liang asked Fa Zheng about the pre-war preparations for the campaign in Yuexi and the assembly of troops and supplies.

Fa Zheng also answered fluently, saying that he had already built a large military camp in the suburbs on the west bank of Nan'an County, and assembled the necessary troops and supplies there in advance.

Zhuge Liang was very familiar with the surrounding geography, so he didn't need to look at a map and could understand it just by relying on his spatial imagination.

Nan'an County is located on the east bank of the confluence of the Minjiang River and the Dadu River. The west bank was originally a desolate area with no towns. The Dadu River flows from west to east into the Minjiang River.

This time, Fa Zheng set up another camp in the southwest corner of the river mouth, which was large enough to accommodate about 20,000 regular troops for a long time.

The military in peacetime will certainly not be managed as strictly as in wartime.

During these two months, apart from daily drills and occasional labor service for the government, the garrison's military discipline was relatively relaxed the rest of the time.

Soldiers had military pay to spend, so there was no need to suffer, and gradually a market town was formed on the west bank of the Dadu River. Private merchants came to provide services for the garrison, which gradually led to a slight prosperity of commerce along the Dadu River.

Although stationing troops there would also result in some additional transportation losses, it would also allow the army to better adapt to the environment and soil in advance. Because if they were to attack Yuexi County later, they would have to march upstream along the Dadu River.

Zhuge Liang listened carefully to Fa Zheng's deployment and considerations, and very much agreed with his approach.

As they chatted, they arrived at Nan'an County. After entering the city, Fa Zheng led Zhuge Liang to the county government office to have a simple banquet.

Zhuge Liang paused for a moment before talking to Fa Zheng about the specific personnel arrangements for the expedition to Yuexi.

"Xiaozhi, you have been preparing for two months in Nan'an, and you are quite capable of grasping the military's morale and understanding the situation below. When you were under Liu Zhang's command, you cooperated with Zhang Ren, and you can be said to be knowledgeable about the military.

I have carefully observed him in the past two months. Xingba is ill and has returned to Jianwei for recuperation. General Yan is old and should not travel too much. Moreover, after Xingba returns, we need to leave people in Jianwei to stabilize the situation, so let General Yan continue to stay there.

Therefore, in this campaign against Yuexi, the only veteran generals under the lord's command are Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin, and the rest have to rely on Liu Zhang's old subordinates. Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin have not read military books and have no talent for leading troops. They can only be vanguards and deputy generals. Why not let you lead the troops? What do you think? "

Fa Zheng has been in Nan'an for the past two months. In addition to civil affairs and water conservancy, he has also been concerned with military affairs and has a good level of control over the troops that are about to go on an expedition.

So he had a premonition about this, but when Zhuge Liang finally made it clear, he was still a little surprised.

It seems that the lord and the prince have high expectations for him in the future, that is, to become a general or a prime minister, and they hope that he can be a man of both civil and military talents.

The final gap between joining the army and helping to make plans and personally taking charge is not easy to bridge.

Fa Zheng quickly expressed his determination and said, "Don't worry, my lord. I have been in Nan'an for two months and have already made up my mind on how to take Yuexi. Just leave it to me.

I think that after the battle of Zangke, the barbarian chieftains in Yuexi should have been afraid. Yuexi is not far from Shujun, and Zhu Bao's fate is enough to serve as a warning to others.

Our army may be able to pacify Yuexi by using deterrence as the main method and siege as the auxiliary method, taking them by surprise and forcing them to surrender. As for the generals needed for this battle, I think Zhang Ren can be the main land attack commander, Jiang Qin can be the deputy naval commander, and Zhou Tai can protect the central army."

Fa Zheng did not bother to be polite with Zhuge Liang and appointed three generals at once.

Zhuge Liang said that of the veteran generals that the lord brought from other states, only Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin were left available, so Fa Zheng took them all and added Zhang Ren as well.

Zhang Ren was an old general of Liu Zhang, so it was time to bring him out for some training. Moreover, he had worked with Fa Zheng for many years, so he knew him well and could use him easily, so there was no need to specially train him in both civil and military skills.

Zhuge Liang was slightly stunned. He did not expect Fa Zheng to make such a big scene. "Does it take so many generals to conquer Yuexi County?"

Fa Zheng quickly explained: "This is also related to the strategy I have been thinking about recently. Since we want to focus on deterrence, of course we need a strong military to scare Gao Ding, the king of Yuexi Barbarians and others.

Although I have many soldiers and generals, I can guarantee that they will not take long. If it is fast, we can win the battle by the summer harvest."

Zhuge Liang also couldn't help but be alert: "Summer harvest? Doesn't that mean it will only take a month and a half? Well, if it can be done that quickly, and you can use more elite soldiers and generals, I will approve it."

(End of this chapter)