Han Xiang

Chapter 313 Drawing on Blank Paper
Guan Yu saw Liu Bei's expression was different, so he raised his finger and pointed at himself: "Brother, is there something wrong with my face?"

"I see that the second brother's eyes are full of joy, and it's because you admire Wen Zhongye a lot." Liu Bei's words came to an abrupt end.

Only then did Guan Yu understand, pointing to the departing fleet, he explained: "I just lament how convenient it is to carry things by boat. In the past, whether in Pingyuan or Xuzhou, my elder brother and I rarely used boats."

Liu Bei nodded in agreement: "As the saying goes, ships from the south and horses from the north, the south does not produce fine horses, and the rivers are denser than the north, so boats and boats are used to carry loads instead. This is due to local conditions, and the people follow the path with wisdom."

"I was thinking." Guan Yu stroked his beard and pondered for a moment, then continued: "The whole Nanyang is as flat as the sea, and there is no danger at all to defend it. If Cao Cao really uses troops for this, besides defending the city, can these rivers be used?"

Liu Bei exclaimed: "Second brother, you mean the navy?"

Guan Yu nodded in affirmation: "Since it is difficult to obtain horses in the south, it is inevitable to replace them with naval warships. I heard that half of Jingzhou's soldiers and horses are navy troops. Since we have come to Jingzhou to settle down, do we have to think about it in advance?"

"Building a navy?" Liu Bei hesitated and shook his head lightly: "First of all, building a ship costs a lot of money and food. In addition, you need generals who are proficient in water warfare. If you ask Jingzhou generals to train, Brother Jing Sheng must doubt me. It's not right, it's not right."

Next to him, Liu Ye heard the two brothers talking, and stepped forward to remonstrate with Liu Bei, saying: "I have a nephew named Liu Fu, who is good at sailing boats and crossing rivers. The size of the fleet is responsible for scouting information on Chaohu Lake and the Yangtze River, so if you want to form a navy, I can ask General Long for him.”

"No need"

Liu Bei resolutely refused: "Although Yun Chang's suggestion is good, there is nothing in Wancheng at this time. It is useless to invite nephew Ling. It is better to stay in Hefei to help Yunqi. Presumably Jianghuai is more important to water warfare talents. Later The conditions in Wancheng are ripe, and it will not be too late to find and train talents for water warfare."

"Alright."

Liu Ye made sense when he heard it, and he said that he had to eat every bite.

At this moment, Guan Yu, who was listening, stroked his beautiful beard, looked at the fleet with his phoenix eyes bluffed, and uttered proud words.

"Water battle? Why do you need to pretend to be someone else? Guan may not be able to do it"

"Ah."

Liu Bei could hear Guan Yu's arrogance, and smiled at him without refuting, because he could tell that the other party was interested, anyway, no matter whether it is OK or not, there is no condition to test it now.

Liu Ye bowed his head and twirled his beard in thought. He said to himself that General Guan is from Hedong Xieliang. This northern man probably doesn't know how to swim, but his self-confidence is really inferior to ordinary people.

Liu Bei sent Wenpin away and completely took over Wancheng and Xi'e.

Liu Ye asked the scribes to find the household registers of the two counties to check, and found that the people in the two counties added together, a total of less than 2 people.

Due to perennial wars, forced relocation and other reasons, there is not a single so-called local family in the two counties, so Yintian and Yinhu no longer exist.

A piece of white paper is easy to draw on, and there are few people with more land to worry about farming, and there are many empty houses in the two counties.

After Liu Bei and the people moved in, he immediately allocated land and houses to the trilogy to prepare for next year's spring farming, and divided his civil and military forces into two counties, so that everyone had something to do.

Straightening out military affairs and government affairs, Liu Bei adopted Liu Ye's strategy and sent scouts to neighboring Zhixian and Bowang counties to understand the population distribution of the two counties and prepare for future looting operations.

When Liu Bei fled to Jingzhou from Runan, it was like throwing a stone on the surface of a calm lake. The violent vibration caused splashes and ripples, but when the stone sank completely to the bottom of the lake, the original lake surface returned to calm again.

In November, few officials in Xiangyang discussed Liu Bei, and everyone returned to welcoming and sending them off in the past. Cai Mao, who was the most hostile to Liu Bei, was hiding in secret and waiting for an opportunity.

The clan thieves flourished in the south at the end of the Han Dynasty, and they were essentially armed landlords who supported the government and gained the trust of the local officials. Families such as Cai Kuai, Panghuang and others in Jingzhou became legal existences recognized by the government, while the rest did not The recognized powerful landlords were dubbed sect thieves.

The essence of politics is the distribution of benefits. Powerful people who have obtained a joint identity merge or occupy other people’s land and wealth for profit, and those who were originally landlords and powerful, but now they are called sect thieves, some want to surrender but stand in line too late. Opportunities, because interest groups are a radish and a pit, their ending can only wait to be eliminated, and the wealth and land accumulated by the family will be divided up.

Where there is stealing, there will be resistance, and where there is resistance, war will break out.

There are rebellions in the counties of Jingzhou almost every year. Cai Mao is giving Liu Bei a rest time at this time, and he will be busy next year.

In Jingzhou in November, the wind is already piercingly cold outside, and some mountains have begun to snow.

As the second in command of Jingzhou, Cai Mao also knows how to enjoy himself in winter. He spends most of his time at home, feeling the warmth brought by burning charcoal.

Suddenly one day, a visitor from the city came to visit Cai's mansion and sent a letter from a friend to Cai Mao.

After reading the letter, Cai Mao's face changed drastically, and he immediately left his warm and gentle place, braving the cold wind and rushing to Kuaiyue Mansion.

Kuai Yue was very surprised by Cai Mao's visit. Seeing the serious expression on his face, he thought he had something important to do, so he led him into the study and closed the door for a private conversation.

"Degui, what's the matter?"

"I just received news that before Liu Bei left Runan two months ago, he used clever tricks to deceive Cao Sikong's army. Finally, Jin Chan escaped from his shell and fled to Jingzhou. It must have been planned by Liu Ye. This person was rated as a talented person by Xu Shao. Sure enough, his reputation for ingenuity is well-deserved. I am worried that with Liu Bei’s advice, our plan to weaken Liu Bei may not succeed. We must find a way to solve it, otherwise we will raise a tiger and cause trouble.”

Kuai Yue was taken aback when he heard that, and hurriedly asked: "Consecutive clever schemes? Are they all successful? Cao Sikong has a lot of think tanks under his command. Could it be that no one sees it?"

Cai Mao shook his head lightly: "Because the front and rear layouts are too delicate, Sikong's counselors can only see part of them. Is there a map of Runan in Yidu? Find it out and I'll show you."

"Yes, yes." Kuai Yue agreed, and quickly turned around to search.

When the map of Runan was laid out on the table, Cai Mao briefly explained Liu Beibing's tactics according to the tactics introduced in Cao Cao's letter.

Kuai Yue was amazed when he heard it, and couldn't help muttering in praise: "It's really interlocking, it's hard for ordinary people to guess, Liu Bei didn't have this kind of tactic before, it seems that Liu Ye really offered advice, I don't want this person to be so resourceful. , I underestimated him before."

Cai Mao reminded in a deep voice: "Yidu, you are the number one think tank in Jingzhou, you can't lose to this young junior, you have to find a way to separate him from Liu Bei"

"Using troops to set up a plan, I ask myself." Kuai Yue frowned slightly, and replied while smoothing his beard: "But if you want to transfer Liu Ye away from Liu Bei's side, there is still a way to do it."

(End of this chapter)