Second-hand time travel: Liu Bei, the big-eared bandit

Chapter 190 Sunset
The Rushui copper mine actually has two mining areas, one in the north of Lulong and the other in the south.

That is, the area on both the north and south sides of the Yanshan Mountains, inside and outside the Great Wall of Han.

The mining area in the northern part of the country was called "Rushui Mine," but it has been abandoned. This is not only because the mining area was located in the territory of the Hu people, but also because it was too far away from the smelting site. It was difficult to transport ore by mountain road, and the mining cost was too high.

The mining area in Senan is what is now called the Rushui Copper Mine, but it should actually be called the 'Sunset Copper Mine'.

In previous years, Xiyang County was located in the southern part of the mining area. Xiyang County was also the logistics base of Lulong Fortress, similar to the configuration of Yuyang County and Yuyang North Fortress (Miyun).

However, since the Wuhuan people moved inland, Xiyang County no longer exists, and only a smelting site remains of its former location.

The Xiyang Smelting Site is currently a military area. It can not only mint coins, but also cast weapons, such as copper crossbows and copper spears. It is also the garrison of the Youbeiping County troops.

However, not long ago, Liu Zheng, the prefect of Youbeiping, died in battle here, leaving only a pile of corpses in the mining area.

These remains included not only county soldiers but also many miners.

The smelter's warehouses were looted, and many workshops were burned down, leaving it basically in ruins.

Currently, Lulongsai, Rushui Copper Mine, and Xiyang Smelting Plant are all in a state of being unmanaged.

With such a large wild copper mine right there, Liu Bei naturally had to go and acquire it.

Yuyang County is actually quite far from the Rushui Copper Mine, about 300 li away, separated by most of Youbeiping County.

Fortunately, there was an official road connecting the two places, which passed through Wuzhong County. In fact, Wuzhong was the most suitable place to govern Youbeiping County, as there were official roads connecting Wuzhong County to all directions.

However, Wuzhong had a small population and was not a prosperous city, so it was always used as a key military transit point.

This is also why the imperial court has always stationed troops in Wuzhong.

Liu Bei was stationed in Wuzhong at this time, both to escort the miners and to collect their remains.

Too many people died before Wuzhong, and the bodies have not been properly collected even now, leaving the county and surrounding areas in a state of chaos.

Xianyu Fu and Wang Men were also present.

Both were injured, but the injuries were not serious and did not affect their mobility. However, they were both in low spirits, and it is estimated that the psychological trauma was more serious.

Xianyu Fu, in particular, lost most of his troops in battle, and all his mounts were killed to feed himself. Countless people died inside and outside the city, and blood flowed like a river. He truly crawled out of hell.

Wangmen's troops also suffered heavy casualties, but at least Wangmen fought a proper battle with Qiuliju and was not trapped indefinitely.

Moreover, after experiencing a brutal war and suffering enormous losses, the three Hu cavalry commanders were stripped of their official positions.

Xu Rong, who had a similar experience to Xianyu Fu, was appointed as the Imperial Guard Commander by He Jin at the same time he lost his official position—clearly, he had been targeted and courted long ago.

Xianyu Fu and Wang Men have both lost their official positions.

The Wuhuan people had already fled, and Liu Bei's post as military commander of the Wuhuan had been revoked. The three Hu cavalry commanders had also exhausted their forces, so it was impossible for them to retain their positions.

Liu Bei had figured out the logic of the Han Dynasty court: if you have troops but no powerful backing, you have to go and suppress bandits and rebels as cannon fodder.

If all the soldiers under his command are wiped out, he will lose his position and be dismissed from his post...

If the suppression of the rebellion is completed, various forces will fight over and pull at it in various ways, getting caught in a vortex of factional strife, or someone will find a pretext to use it against you, and you will continue to be cannon fodder for others...

If you don't want to be cannon fodder or be used and discarded, it's best to find a secluded corner where you won't be noticed and develop quietly.

Liu Bei now intends to help them rebuild their strength.

To mint coins, you'd need people to keep watch, at least someone to act as lookout...

Xianyu Fu had already joined Liu Bei, and the two had a good relationship.

Wang Men, however, had no idea what to do in the future.

“Commander-in-Chief, most of my men have perished. It is all my fault for misjudging the situation and causing the deaths of my comrades. I am deeply troubled… Now I am a commoner, without troops or power. How can I possibly help you, Commander-in-Chief?”

Wang Men already knew that Liu Bei had been reassigned as Cavalry Commandant, but they still referred to him as Commander-in-Chief.

Liu Bei's battle report from Youzhou described the three Hu cavalry commanders as incredibly brave, which naturally made Wang Men very grateful.

However, Wang Men was not under Liu Bei's patronage. Although he had initially gained access to Liu Bei's connections, it was Zou Jing who recommended him for officialdom.

Previously, when Liu Bei held the imperial insignia to supervise the army, the three Hu cavalry commanders were only under Liu Bei's command, not in a direct superior-subordinate relationship.

"If Brother Wang wants to become an official, that's easy. I can pay for you to become a Guanduwei (a military officer in charge of border passes). Anyway, no one is willing to buy military positions in border towns, and the price isn't high..."

Liu Bei asked, "The position of Commandant of Lulong Pass is important and offers opportunities for meritorious service. Would you be willing to give it a try, Brother Wang?"

"The court's rewards and punishments are unclear, so making meritorious contributions is useless... I, Wang, don't care about official positions right now; I only want to take Zhang Chun's life to avenge my troops! But now... alas!"

Wang Men did look somewhat dejected, sighing as he spoke.

"You want to go to the Hu region to kill Zhang Chun?"

Liu Bei was somewhat surprised, but then he understood. Most of the followers of the Wang family had died, and they did indeed harbor hatred in their hearts.

Wang Men wouldn't hate Qiu Liju, because it was pointless... He knew it wasn't Qiu Liju's scheme, but rather a mess caused by Zhang Chun.

All three Hu cavalry commanders actually hated Zhang Chun.

Moreover, when Zhang Chun served as the Chancellor of Zhongshan, Wang Men was Zhang Chun's subordinate. Although Wang Men left Zhang Chun after being appointed as the Commander of the Hu Cavalry, this can actually be seen as a betrayal. Zhang Chun must have always wanted to kill Wang Men.

Wang Men certainly wanted Zhang Chun to die quickly, and this wasn't just for revenge.

At the same time, the imperial court issued a decree to execute the traitor. If they could kill Zhang Chun, the Wang family would be granted a title of nobility and would no longer have to worry about losing their official positions.

Liu Bei certainly wanted to get rid of Zhang Chun, since Zhang Chun probably hated Liu Bei the most...

"Zhang Chun has fled to an unknown place... If he is not dead, I, Wang, will not be at peace."

Wang Men nodded and said, "But I have almost no troops left. This year I have to pay land taxes and other taxes. I have no strength left to recruit soldiers to go beyond the Great Wall..."

The Wang family is indeed not wealthy right now. Although he acquired nearly 10,000 mu of land in Guangyang when he was involved in pyramid schemes, these lands have not yet started producing anything. Instead, they will incur an additional 100,000 yuan in land tax expenses, and they also have to pay grain tax...

"If we want to kill Zhang Chun, relying on troops won't be enough; the key is to find out where he is..."

After thinking for a while, Liu Bei had an idea: "Go and contact Wang Zheng and tell him that if he can kill Zhang Chun, I will no longer hold the assassination attempt against him."

"Can the warlord find Zhang Chun?"

Seeing that Liu Bei seemed to have a solution, Wang Men perked up a bit. "I can't find him... but I don't need to look for him. I just need to let Wang Zheng find him, or wait for Zhang Chun to come to me himself."

Liu Bei explained, "I brought Zhang Chun's clansmen to mine, and Zhang Chun will surely send someone to rescue them... Even if he doesn't rescue them, he will at least come to spy on them."

"Furthermore, Zhang Chun was unaware that Wang Zheng was the bandit Wang Zhen from Taihang Mountain, yet Wang Zheng still managed to gain his trust."

“Wang Zheng sent someone to assassinate me. In Zhang Chun’s view, I have a deep-seated hatred for Wang Zheng… If Wang Zheng were to leave the border and ‘join’ Zhang Chun, thus luring him to launch a surprise attack on the mining area, the chances of success would be very high.”

“Zhang Chun already hates me. With Wang Zheng as his guide, Zhang Chun will definitely try to attack the mining area to rescue his people. You can set an ambush and take his head.”

……

After sending Wang Men to find Wang Zheng, Liu Bei began to arrange the work at the mine.

Zhang Ju and Zhang Chun could not possibly be pardoned, and the Zhang family members and servants could only work as miners.

Zhang Ju proclaimed himself emperor, which was the most serious form of treason, bar none, and such a crime would inevitably lead to the extermination of the entire clan. No one, regardless of age, gender, or gender, would be spared; the entire family, including retainers and guests, would also be executed.

For the imperial court, usurping the throne was unforgivable, and even the rebels in Xiliang used the slogan of "purging the emperor's inner circle" to justify it.

At present, the Zhang family can only accept Liu Bei's arrangements, otherwise they only have two paths to take - either be executed by the court, or escape to the border to become slaves for the Hu people.

Although Liu Bei made them mine, at least he treated them like human beings, which was already the best possible outcome.

Tian Yu was in charge of organizing the miners. He was very familiar with the geography of Yuyang and Youbeiping counties.

After following Liu Bei, the food has indeed improved a lot. Tian Yu has grown taller and looks like an adult, but he has only grown taller and not gained weight, so he looks very thin.

He is currently a member of Liu Bei's guard, with his main job being a military clerk (messenger), but he also has many other duties.

He concurrently served as a military strategist, translator, supervisor of the Hu people (responsible for managing the labor dispatch of the Hu people), and also as a guard sergeant and night scout—this guy had a problem with his biological clock, he was a night owl and liked to be active in the middle of the night, so Liu Bei made him a night guard.

Sometimes Liu Bei felt that he was quite cruel. Tian Yu was sixteen years old by the traditional Chinese age reckoning, but only fifteen by the Western age reckoning, yet he had to do six jobs... This was definitely child labor exploitation.

There's nothing we can do about it; he's quick-witted and familiar with the environment, so he's always given more work.

But Liu Bei was not an evil capitalist. Tian Yu received a salary for each of his part-time jobs. All in all, Tian Yu's salary was very high—two hundred shi for his main job and one hundred shi for each of his five part-time jobs, for a total monthly salary of seven hundred shi...

Jian Yong, the second-in-command, only had a salary of 600 shi (a unit of grain).

That's what it means to value someone.

In fact, given Tian Yu's current skills, it's really uncertain whether he, as the bodyguard, or Liu Bei would protect whom in a real dangerous situation...

However, Tian Yu was a skilled archer, and he could shoot with sound—he could actually shoot while blindfolded and by sound, with a very high accuracy rate.

However, only crossbows can be used.

Liu Bei's guards are now mostly equipped with crossbows, which is both Liu Bei's requirement and the soldiers' own choice.

The crossbow was the core equipment of the Han Dynasty's border troops, while the bow was actually an auxiliary weapon.

Especially when fighting against the Hu cavalry, the crossbow was the main killing weapon. Its range, accuracy and armor-piercing ability far exceeded those of the Hu's bows and arrows. This was the main reason why the Han army was able to win against an equal number of Hu cavalry.

At present, the crossbow technology of the Han Dynasty is already very advanced. The crossbows equipped by the border troops are generally of the five-stone or six-stone type, and all of them have a sighting range. The maximum range of the sighting range is three hundred paces (more than 400 meters).

Of course, this is the maximum range of the projectile.

There are usually five markings on the mountain range. You can adjust the scale every fifty steps, which makes training relatively simple.

If it is a horizontal shot, the effective range is about 100 to 120 paces (about 150 meters). This refers to the distance at which it can penetrate armor. If the enemy is unarmored, a projectile shot is also deadly.

The Han crossbow was the pinnacle of weaponry of its time, and the Han army would use it whenever it was available.

Moreover, Liu Bei's men did not use bronze crossbows, but rather steel crossbows that he had made himself, which were quite durable.

However, crossbows are not as convenient to carry as bows, and their mobility and firing rate are not as good as bows and arrows. Therefore, inland county soldiers, mountain troops, and mounted archers (chariot cavalry) used bows more often, while border troops and central troops who were good at formation warfare used crossbows more often.

However, Liu Bei's troops were equipped with packhorses for carrying heavy loads, so carrying an extra crossbow was not a big problem.

Of course, there are also bows and arrows. All kinds of weapons are actually used in combination. The bow's role in quickly blocking the enemy and mobile warfare is still irreplaceable.

However, Liu Bei's men didn't really have many skilled archers; in fact, there was no one who could hit a target from a hundred paces away.

There were a dozen or so people who could accurately hit a moving target a hundred paces away with a crossbow, and Tian Yu was one of them.

The moving targets used for training in Liu Bei's army were spherical rattan targets, only one foot (23 centimeters) in diameter, and were sometimes used for Cuju (ancient Chinese football).

Cuju (蹴鞠) was not created by Liu Bei, but was a spontaneous activity of his retainers. It was also the most popular sport in the Han Dynasty army, and it was organized in units of five.

However... the football of these days is extremely violent. Not only is collision with each other allowed, but fists and feet are also permitted, and even armor is encouraged... Apart from not using weapons, it is no different from fighting a war.

This meant Liu Bei rarely had a chance to participate personally, because things became much less fun when he was on the field—his brothers were too afraid to attack him, and they all played like the Chinese national football team…

Those who can play Cuju well are all fierce men like Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, and Zhang He is also quite good.

Those who can handle crossbows well are generally well-educated, especially those who are good at mathematics, such as Tian Yu.

To hit a moving target the size of a human head with a crossbow bolt from a hundred paces away, you need to calculate not only the lead and trajectory, but also the wind force and direction.

Moreover, Tian Yu has a remarkable skill: he can fire a crossbow at a sound source in complete darkness, and can blindly fire again at the same spot where the sound was previously emitted after he has moved or turned around.

This requires a very strong sense of space...

The key point is that Tian Yu didn't have any special training; it's all natural talent.

Of course, only crossbows can be used; bows and arrows are definitely not an option.

Originally, Tian Yu himself didn't know he had this talent; he only discovered his ability after entering the Stone Gate Canyon...

Shimen Gorge is a winding river channel. After reaching the middle of the gorge, the surrounding mountains will almost completely block the view, making it easy to be ambushed.

Wang Men was ambushed from behind by Qiu Liju.

On the way Liu Bei moved the Zhang family from Yuyang to the mining area, they were ambushed by the enemy.

Calling them enemies might be a bit inappropriate; it would be more accurate to say we encountered a group of rather unfriendly wild miners.

(End of this chapter)